Explain why Ben-Hur needed to be remade?

I know Hollywood likes ideas that have worked before. It costs a fortune to make a big blockbuster movie, so you need to believe the one you’re pitching has a ready-made audience.

Some movies wouldn’t seem to need a remake, though. I’m sure with today’s CGI techniques the gladiator fights and the chariot race will look great, but they looked pretty good in the one that first appeared in 1959 too. (Did you know that was a remake of a 1925 version? It’s true.)

Maybe I’m just a stick-in-the-mud, but I don’t see a need for this movie.