Hollywood’s insatiable appetite for remakes is often cited as a key indicator that originality in the film industry is dead, with studios merely content to rehash their dustiest old franchises for another belaboured go-around.

And while the annals of Hollywood are indeed littered with the forgotten corpses of so many rancid, cynical remakes, it’s also fair to say that not all remakes are created equal, and sometimes they actually turn out pretty damn well.

While it’s reasonable to be skeptical of most announced remakes, there are certainly exceptions where the cast or crew involved suggests it isn’t merely a lousy exercise in brand renewal for a new generation.

Rather, it seems like someone might actually be doing something interesting with the original idea.

And that’s certainly true of these 10 impending remakes, which could defy initial expectations and deliver worthy modern updates to cult classics, or perhaps even do the impossible and improve upon what came before.

We won’t know for ourselves until we’re sitting down and watching the end product, of course, but these remakes at least tout plenty of promise that they might actually re-deliver the goods…

1992’s Single White Female was a smash hit erotic thriller starring Bridget Fonda as a woman who discovers that her new roommate (Jennifer Jason Leigh) is a deranged stalker.

While there aren’t exactly many folk jonesing for a new take on this well-aged material, it was tough not to be intrigued when the remake was recently confirmed to be starring Jenna Ortega and Taylor Russell.

Ortega and Russell are both terrific actresses whose visual similarity feels perfectly on-point compared to the Fonda/Leigh dichotomy of the original. 

While it’s reasonable to assume that this new version will offer up a bevy of modern updates – including, presumably, changing the title – fans of erotic thrillers are seriously starved of quality content in the current era, so this could very well help give the dormant genre a much-needed burst of life.

No word yet on who will write or direct, though given the acting talent involved it shouldn’t struggle to rope in some quality filmmakers.