Will Avatar put actors out of work?

James Cameron's space opera might just see less human stars on the big screen but an actorless age is a whole world away

In the 2002 science fiction tale S1m0ne, disillusioned director Viktor Taransky (Al Pacino) uses a computer program to create an apparently perfect female actor who goes on to win an Oscar. It's a last ditch attempt to salvage the film-maker's new movie after his flesh-and-blood star walks out on him. But S1m0ne is so strikingly realistic the public comes to believe she is an actual human being, causing Taransky difficulties when the press want to interview her.

The idea of entirely removing the actor from the film-making process is not one that has really taken root in Hollywood, though it represents an attractive prospect for currently cash-strapped studios. Were it possible to shoot photo-real footage using just a voiceover artiste to provide dialogue, film-makers could potentially save millions.