Exactly. That being said, I expect that a lot of investors get a % up front back from cash product placement deals on big films as well as government grants.
As I pointed out earlier, one government provided a grant up front that covered 10% of the production costs (which made someone's calculations inaccurate/flawed from the start......) for filming in that jurisdiction. Since the film was shot in other countries as well, there were likely further government grants to shoot there. If I were financing these films I would ask for all of that money to be paid back first.
I can't say for certain since the only content production I have invested in was small stuff (a couple of million per project split 2/3 government grants - federal and provincial - and 1/3 investors and production company), but it appears that the film industry is likely similar to pharma in sense. From a macro view, that means the studios = big pharma and own IP/offer the product, finish development and market it, but do not pay the bulk of development cost (Phase 3 onwards); film investors/production companies = small pharma/biotechs that take the most risk and pay the most to generate the product for royalties; and the theatres = drug stores that distribute it to the masses. We all know who ends up with the most in the pharma scenario........