I didn't like the 1983 adaptation and I probably won't like the new one, but this is one of those cases where I don't mind that a remake takes a different route from the original. I don't see the point of remaking a movie like Cujo and following the same script. I'm sure that a director would try to justify it by saying something along the lines of "we want to introduce a new audience to this wonderful material", and he might be able to find a producer who falls for it, because hey, money is money; but from my perspective, it would be a waste of time. I'm probably going to watch the new Cujo just to see how silly it is, and maybe I'll be pleasantly surprised. They better leave It alone, though.
I'm right there with you. It's just silly to me that if you're going to change the story and deviate so much from the source material, why even label it as a remake? Why not just make some more changes and release it as its own thing? And then I remember money. Taking something people are already familiar with and rebooting it is the primary money maker in Hollywood nowadays.