Sure, but the issue is about conservatives risking money--he sure doesn't want to just throw that $80 mil away.
I've been around "artists" of all types for 30 years and have met very, very few who were well balanced. For one thing, it's an extremely difficult job. It takes a certain amount of obsession with the craft, whatever it may be, to do a halfway decent job of it. It's not a job where you punch the clock, go home, forget about work and veg out in front of the television.
I know. I am one of those folks. There are a lot of obsessed flakes, but the ones who achieve are those with good work ethics, not loons.
From what I've seen, the best of any given artist is pretty much handed over to their work. Needless to say, this plays havoc in their personal lives and their view of the world.
I'd say that's accurate as far as it goes. There are artists and "artists" who work obsessively and invest themselves and their egos in their art. But more often than not, those folks create strange work that doesn't get them very far beyond a little corner of the art world. The ones I know who actually make a living have wives and kids and homes and work their butts off, but they're pretty normal folks.
There's a great scene in Chaplin where Charlie's wife and kids find him in the studio putting the score together and the wife asks, "Is this how you lost your other wives?" To which he responds something like, "I don't know, maybe."
That appeals to the romantic streak in artists. Chaplin was an artist but he was also a jerk. Many artists think being an artist gives them a license to be a jerk, due to years of BS from other artists. But the artists who make it have regular contact with reality.
The narnia guy made a pretty educated bet. It's pretty tough to lose money on a movie these days. Add to that Disney's distribution, and it was an even money wager...at least over the long run.
Most successful artists have good work ethics, but that doesn't rule out totally loony behavior. The folks that I know in the arts are a mixed bag in regards to families, though most are on second, third and fourth wives/husbands. But again, the wives/kids aren't important to them in the same way that they are important to a lot of people.
I'm not sure they feel they have a license to be a jerk. It just comes naturally. The artistic community, such as it is, tends to be made up of emotionally immature, unstable, self-centered,and generally speaking, somewhat unhappy people. Happy, well-adjusted people go to work for insurance firms where they are more apt to build the financial security required to maintain house, families, cars, etc.
Probably the best essay on the subject is by Edmond Wilson called the Wound and the Bow.