Why did the movie flop?

I never even considered seeing it in theaters, I just saw it for the first time streaming. I really enjoyed it today as a soft old fart, but I'm sure if I saw it in 1990 I would have hated it.

Fun exercise that beats working: Box office top 10 from summer 1990:

1. Ghost - $218 mil - Saw it in a theater, don't remember shit about it; if I liked it I'd remember

2. Total Recall - $119 mil - Saw in a theater, instant classic, still love it, my pick for best movie of summer 1990

3. Die Hard 2 - $117 mil - Skipped it in theaters, finally saw it for the first time a few years ago, I remember nothing

4. Dick Tracy - $104 mil - Saw it in a theater, mostly because I loved the Dick Tracy cartoons on TV as a kid; I vaguely remember not hating it

5. Back to the Future Pt III - $88 mil - Skipped it, saw it for the first time a couple years ago, bored me to tears, validated my lack of interest; I loved the first one, both sequels can miss me

6. Arachnophobia - $53 mil - Skipped it, was only vaguely aware it existed; streamed it a couple years ago, immediately purged it from my memory

7. Problem Child - $53 mil - Skipped it, never seen it

8. Robocop 2 - $45 mil - Saw it in a theater, I actually remember a couple things about it, but I didn't like it much

9. Gremlins 2 - $41 mil - Already covered

10. Ducktales - $18 mil - A Ducktales movie exists? Who cares?

Mostly the script. It's all over the place and is way too comical. Sure, the first one had a sense of humor but it wasn't afraid to be morbid get downright grisly.

1. Came out too long after the first one. Many members of the core audience had grown up or forgotten the original.

2. The studio gave Joe Dante carte blanche, assuming he'd give them a repeat of the first one, which was a mistake. The film had no proper storyline or arc for the characters, it was just 100 mins of gags and hijinks. He needed reined in. The film lacks focus and becomes a farce, much like the Looney Tunes opening, it's almost like that's what Dante was going for.

3. By the 1990s audiences started to shift away from 80s fluff. Just like how gloomy grunge music was creeping in and taking over from the fun 80s hair bands, films too were becoming more serious, especially the action genre which was increasingly gratuitous, and thus not many wanted another Gremlins escapade.

4. The city setting. It's a cliche to set a sequel in an urban environment after the first one was in a rural/suburban setting. It's boring and uninteresting.

5. No Rand Peltzer. He was the coolest character from the original.

6. Phoebe Cates cutting her hair short. She didn't suit it and looked better in the original. I blame that hack Kevin Kline for ruining her.

7. No stripe-like villain.