But the prime investor was an outsider, a Christian billionaire of the type he's refering to in the bit I quoted.
Philip Anschutz and Disney split the production cost 50/50. In addition, Disney's Buena Vista distribution arm and Disney's marketing costs will come off the top. Disney execs were on the set every day giving notes to the director. That's hardly an "outsider" film. There's a better case that Anschutz's "Ray" was an outsider project, since he put up all the production money himself, then sold it to the studio as a finished product.