Peter O’Toole plays Torquemada, “the Da Vinci...

Peter O’Toole plays Torquemada, “the Da Vinci of torture,” in the Bandcompany’s “The Pit and the Pendulum,” based on the story by Edgar Allan Poe. Stuart Gordon directs the Dennis Paoli adaptation in Rome (including locations at Lucrezia Borgia’s castle) and London in May for producers Albert and Charles Band. The story has the evil inquisitor smitten by a young woman and therefore convinced she’s a sorceress. Sherilyn Fenn plays the woman and Billy Dee Williams is the infidel Abdul . . . .

Carol Kane plays the last remaining holdout of a ‘60s commune in Paramount’s “Flashback,” filming next month for producer Marvin Worth. Writer/co-producer David Loughery’s screenplay finds resurfaced radical Dennis Hopper and junior G-Man Kiefer Sutherland entangled with Kane as they attempt to elude pursuing gunmen. Franco Amurri directs. . . . David Carradine locks horns with Mel Gibson, the man who turned state’s evidence against him in a botched ‘60s drug deal, in Universal’s “Bird on a Wire.” John Badham directs and co-produces with Rob Cohen and Interscope in April. Joan Severance and Stephen Tobolowsky join Goldie Hawn in the romantic thriller. . . .

Robby Benson does it all in SVS’s “Modern Love,” a roller-coaster ride of comedy and trauma for a young couple. In addition to starring opposite his real-life wife Karla DeVito, Benson produces, wrote the screenplay and directs next month in South Carolina. Burt Reynolds and Piper Laurie play his parents in the Sony production. . . .

John Larroquette has his unfettered, serene home life undone by visiting cousins and friends in Orion’s “Madhouse,” an early May start in Arizona and Los Angeles. The comedy, written by Tom Ropelewski, marks the screenwriter’s directing debut. His wife, Leslie Dixon, produces. . . .

Film maker Sydney Pollack will make “Havana,” a political drama of pre-Castro Cuba, based on a screenplay by Judith Rascoe. . . . Eric Roberts stars in Trans World’s “Into Thin Air,” (formerly “The Ambulence”) the yarn of a reporter’s search for a girl no one believes exists. Larry Cohen wrote and directs the film in New York City in early May for producers Moctesuma Esparza and Robert Katz. . . .

Sharon Stone and Rachel Ticotin join Arnold Schwarzenegger in Carolco/Tri-Star’s “Total Recall” which goes before the cameras in Mexico in April. The science-fiction thriller, based upon Phillip K. Dick’s “I Can Remember It for You Wholesale,” centers on a man who goes to Mars by means of memory implants--discovering shocking truth on his journey. Paul Verhoeven directs the Ronald Shusett/Steven Pressfield adaptation for producer Daniel Melnick. . . . Casting around: Nancy Travis plays Andy Garcia’s romantic interest in Paramount’s “Internal Affairs” which co-stars Richard Gere. Mike Figgis directs for producers Pierre David and Frank Mancuso, Jr. . . . Leslie Hope sparks with Charlie Sheen in Trans World’s “Men at Work,” a spoofy thriller about a corpse that refuses to go away. Emilio Estevez co-stars, wrote the script and directs. . . . Eugene Levy plays Rick Moranis’ nerdy dermatologist cousin in “Ghostbusters II.”