You can do a remake and be entirely original. The Battlestar Galactica remake is a good example.
But as another poster said, that’s on cable. The good stuff is starting to show up there.
I agree. The good stories can’t make it in Hollywood. Theatrical releases these days are usually a thin plot, with bad dialogue, and kick-ass special effects. They are, basically, the cutscenes from an X-Box or PS3 game.