Because the people who lack creativity, originality and vision have the ability to greenlight a project that can hopefully exploit an existing fan base?

But the original didn't have Keanu and lots of explosions.

i'd happily watch John Cleese and John Hamm sober.
But then, there are a lot of movies i can never make it through, or if i did, i blocked it out.

I saw the 5 minute preview thing and threw up in my mouth a little. I told my dad (who adores the original) that they were remaking it. He looked like someone had kicked a kitten.

This is kind of like re-making Citizen Kane. What is missing from these peoples reason to even consider a re-make?! In a way, it feels like history is being re-written by re-making a film like this.

Robert Wise may not have had any identifiable style but he made some great films. The Day the Earth Stood Still; Run Silent, Run Deep; West Side Story; The Haunting; Andromeda Strain are all great movies and even though I'm not a fan of The Sound of Music, he did a great job directing it. And I'm actually one of the few people that likes "Star Trek - The Motion Picture", especially the director's cut that he put together a few years before his death.

One proof of his talent is that the remakes of two of his movies, (The Haunting and Andromeda) totally sucked.

Someone has always got to ruin things.

Because it has Keanu! (sigh) I think he is good looking but acting wise? meh
I saw the ad this weekend and at first I thought it was another Matrix movie.

Why mess with it?

Because the time is right for another tale of our mistrust and inhumanity and fear of things we don't know, and an updated version can achieve emotional resonances that the original with a dude in a silver lame' suit and a goofy robot couldn't.

an updated version can achieve emotional resonances that the original with a dude in a silver lame' suit and a goofy robot couldn't.

Keanu Reeves? Really?