Yea when i leaned a couple weeks back about the release dates, the Lucy release had me a lil concerned for Dwayne lol.
The issue is that the Lucy movie just has a broader appeal: female lead, different ethnic groups playing a role, more unique abilities and powers to play off of, and the big tease in the movie is that said powers can/will expand and become near limitless.
Hercules on the other hand is basically seeing him fight a lion, a warthog, and a couple ehhh mythical creatures... without showing any box office worthy displays of strength. He basically appears to be 'kevin sorbo' strong, and after seeing superman, hulk, thor and shyt even captain america.. a kevin sorbo type hercules just isnt that intriguing if action is the main selling point. No general zod or winter soldier type antagonist to throw down with. no supporting characters of interest, and a pretty generic sounding plot.
My first thought was damn, why' they have him square off against this lucy movie that'll have a broader appeal... but then i saw the rest of the upcoming summer movie schedule... the Marvel movie (GoTG) and James Brown biopic next friday, TMNT the friday after that, Expendables 3 the friday after that.. and then Sin City in mid august... so this may have been the best matchup to give Rock's flick.
In retrospect, it should've came out during the quiet July 4 weekend. It probably could've made a big splash before fading off considering there was not much competition that weekend.
I think it will do well internationally, and damn near every critic so far has enjoyed Dwayne's performance...so it looks like a win for the Rock.