Guy Adams: Are the film star's days numbered?

When historians of the future study the rise and fall of a 21st-century social elite known as "film stars", they may well pore over a glamorous event organised last week by the Walt Disney Company. In what was described as a "showcase", the studio presented its slate of upcoming films to an audience of insiders and big hitters at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood. Somehow, I also got a ticket.

Quite the corporate power trip it was, too. Johnny Depp appeared on stage. So did John Travolta, Robin Williams, Sandra Bullock, and Nicolas Cage. Miley Cyrus performed. Zac Efron smiled sweetly. Lunch was fantastic.

But these events are really about trend-spotting. And that's where Disney's "showcase" got really interesting – not least for the stars who turned out so loyally to perform.

First, the studio revealed that 16 of its future films will be 3D animations – a genre that relies on slick computer programmers, rather than overpaid celebrities. Then Disney unveiled a futuristic system by which it can now shoot animations using real-life actors clad in jumpsuits, who are then rendered in cartoon form.

Due to debut in 2009, with a remake of A Christmas Carol starring Jim Carrey, it effectively represents the creation of "virtual" acting and could very well change the face of the film industry.

As insiders and big hitters noted over lunch, it effectively represents the creation of "virtual" acting. And if – in the hi-tech world of the future – you can achieve such a thing as a "virtual" performance, will there be there any point in actually having "real" film stars?

Arnie's pet sounds

Arnold Schwarzenegger missed another opportunity to achieve a legacy this week when he vetoed a new law to ban Californians from driving with a pet in their lap. The Governor gave no reason for his decision, which upset both the animal rights lobby and road-safety campaigners. Conspiracy theorists, however, wonder if he was "got at" by the showbusiness community: after all, the ill-fated law was dubbed the "Paris Hilton Act".

Sharon's dubious feat

Sharon Stone just lost custody of her eight-year-old son, Roan, after a judge learned that she tried to cure his smelly feet with Botox injections. The matter will only fuel the debate about America's family law system that was stirred up by Alex Baldwin in a recent book in which he fired a broadside at the family law "industry", claiming that – in his divorce from Kim Basinger, and elsewhere – it fails to safeguard the children it's supposed to protect. Given Ms Stone's conduct, he may well have a point.

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