Sandwiching the R-rated movie between the PG-13 Shazam! and the PG-13 Avengers: Endgame may have seemed like counterprogramming, but to me it seemed like packing too much in.
Honestly, it was always a little confusing why Lionsgate wanted to release Hellboy in April.
It seemed primed to be more of a late summer/ early fall title.
We wrote a comprehensive piece about this a couple of months ago here at CinemaBlend, although my coworker argued the movie should come out over the summer and not next fall.