Fair. But looking at that story (very interesting btw, thanks), they did recreate it. So incentive does mean a lot when $$ is also available, which I'd suspect it is in movies.
I think you're underselling Disney's budget and reach. Yes, it's probably technically smaller than the US nuclear program, but even just Disney is worth $200 billion USD, ignoring all other studios and etc. Movies are big money.
The movie industry had cheaper options, so they went with those.