2. Gremlins
I might get some hate mail for this one, but I’m firmly for an update of Joe Dante’s 1984 horror comedy classic. Yes, Gremlins is pretty much perfect as is, but I can’t stop thinking about what Gizmo and Stripe would make of modern technology like TempurPedic mattresses, voice control on iPhones, and smart tablets. Imagine all of the gremlins crouched around an iPad playing Angry Birds, rampaging through a mall or jumping up and down in the seats of an IMAX theater. It could be one heck of a good time. The story could also be re-imagined for modern times – a dad who spends most of the year traveling gets his distant, plugged-in son a Mogwai so they can bond over the pet outside of their usual video-conferencing and texting.
Besides, the gremlins are such cool, zany characters that I feel we really should have gotten more out of them than just two movies, so why not do a remake? There’s also a plethora of young actors and actresses who could easily fill Zach Galligan’s and Phoebe Cates’s shoes; personally, I’d cast Logan Lerman or Jake T. Austin as Billy, and either Debby Ryan or Juno Temple as his girlfriend, Kate.