If it worked once, why can't it work again?

If there was one film - you'd think - that never needed to be remade, it's the famous Oscar-winning epic Ben Hur from 1959. But it's back, in a year that's seen cover-versions of other famous films swamp the cinemas - The Jungle Book, Cinderella, a new Magnificent Seven. The most controversial was the new Ghostbusters... So why do it? Have any cover versions of a classic movie been any good? Very few of them seem to have the impact of the original hits. Simon Morris and Lynn Freeman invite Dan Slevin and Megan Whelan to answer the thorny subject - "Remakes - is there any excuse?"