5. Merchandising, Merchandising, Merchandising
Problem: We've gone from an era where cool plastic toys, and maybe a couple cheesy t-shirts, would do for a film's marketing campaign; to this. A T-Shirt, with an overly reductive/cutesy concept and a play on an outdated catchphrase. Ladies and gentlemen, I ask you, where did we go wrong? To make a Gremlins film now would be to ensure a Gizmo in every Happy Meal, a Stripe in every Spencer's, and I Less Than Three Billy stickers in every Hot Topic. The Gremlins brand is something that was safe in the 1980's, but is now ripe for abuse thanks to the nostalgia crazed/"clever" culture we live in today.
If They HAVE To...: ...stick to the old stuff. Let NECA Toys continue to do their fine work with the classic character designs, and maybe re-release the vintage tie-in novel that fans have been dying to read again, thanks to its deleted content from the film. Also, no matter how much the executives cry, no matter how much they plead, never...NEVER release a video game like you almost did back in the days of the Playstation 2! It's either Call of Duty: Mogwai Warrior, or go home.