One perplexing thing to me: I understand, kinda, how actors like this might sign up for the project. Script pulls in some ideas that sound interesting in combination, etc. The baffling part is why they would continue to push for promotion of the movie after it was done. Presumably they saw it, and yet the stars were reportedly angry that they weren’t sent out on press junkets, onto talk shows, etc. So...do McConaughey and Hathaway just not know how to tell what something is garbage?
(One source: http://etcanada.com/news/413499/matthew-mcconaughey-and-anne-hathaway-reportedly-angry-at-distributor-over-serenity-bombing-at-the-box-office/)