It's rare, because there are several things that need to come together for a remake to be any good (for the purposes of this answer, "reboots" are a type of creator-sponsored remake).
For starters, the original. The better the original is, the harder it's going to be to make a decent remake, because something that stands on its own doesn't really need to be remade. Contrastingly, remaking something bad sets the bar low, so making a remake that's better isn't that much of a strain (yet people still fuck it up). Someone earlier in the thread mentioned My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic. Frankly, that franchise set the bar pretty low, so it's not saying much that it's better than previous incarnations (I won't get into a debate over whether or not it's actually good. Those topics have gotten really, really old and even I'm sick of egging you people on when they roll around). Let's contrast Red Dwarf, which was a fantastic show; like many British shows that get brought across the pond, rather than just playing the show as-is, jingoistic American networks feel the need to remake it for an American audience. The Red Dwarf remake was ''terrible'', no one liked it and I'm not even sure if you can actually find it anywhere anymore.
For another is the creator. A lot of remakes that get made and then suck, suck because what gets made is "I'll just make this movie over again, only this time I get credit for making it." If the creator doesn't have something unique to bring to the table, the remake is going to fall flat no matter what kind of cred they've got. Take, again, My Little Pony. When they gave it to Lauren Faust, she offered a fresh take on the franchise, which has contributed massively to its popularity. Take a look at that A Christmas Carol movie with Jim Carrey, though; sure, it was animated mo-cap, which no one had ever done to A Christmas Carol before, and Jim Carrey was in it, but they didn't actually do anything new with the story (and doing that mo-cap animation thing didn't work for Polar Express or Mars Needs Moms either).
Then there's timing. I'm not even going to give you examples for this one. Just keep this in mind: If the actors from the original could still believably play their roles today (barring children), it's too soon for a remake.
tl;dr Yes, and My Little Pony is a good example of how to do it right, but it's not often that people DO do it right.
For starters, the original. The better the original is, the harder it's going to be to make a decent remake, because something that stands on its own doesn't really need to be remade. Contrastingly, remaking something bad sets the bar low, so making a remake that's better isn't that much of a strain (yet people still fuck it up). Someone earlier in the thread mentioned My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic. Frankly, that franchise set the bar pretty low, so it's not saying much that it's better than previous incarnations (I won't get into a debate over whether or not it's actually good. Those topics have gotten really, really old and even I'm sick of egging you people on when they roll around). Let's contrast Red Dwarf, which was a fantastic show; like many British shows that get brought across the pond, rather than just playing the show as-is, jingoistic American networks feel the need to remake it for an American audience. The Red Dwarf remake was ''terrible'', no one liked it and I'm not even sure if you can actually find it anywhere anymore.
For another is the creator. A lot of remakes that get made and then suck, suck because what gets made is "I'll just make this movie over again, only this time I get credit for making it." If the creator doesn't have something unique to bring to the table, the remake is going to fall flat no matter what kind of cred they've got. Take, again, My Little Pony. When they gave it to Lauren Faust, she offered a fresh take on the franchise, which has contributed massively to its popularity. Take a look at that A Christmas Carol movie with Jim Carrey, though; sure, it was animated mo-cap, which no one had ever done to A Christmas Carol before, and Jim Carrey was in it, but they didn't actually do anything new with the story (and doing that mo-cap animation thing didn't work for Polar Express or Mars Needs Moms either).
Then there's timing. I'm not even going to give you examples for this one. Just keep this in mind: If the actors from the original could still believably play their roles today (barring children), it's too soon for a remake.
tl;dr Yes, and My Little Pony is a good example of how to do it right, but it's not often that people DO do it right.
