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The acclaimed creator is set for a return to the small screen. The Sopranos visionary will write Project MKUltra, a mini-series focusing on the Central Intelligence Agency's secret Cold War period psychological manipulation project for HBO.

Exploring the Series

The project, first reported by industry sources, will be David Chase's first series since the era-defining HBO mob drama. The dramatic thriller, based on the author's book Project Mind Control, focuses on Sidney Gottlieb, known as the “black sorcerer” who oversaw the MKUltra initiative, the CIA's covert hallucinogen experiments that administered hallucinogenic drugs, hypnosis, and physical coercion on willing and unwilling subjects from the early 1950s until it was terminated in the early 1970s.

The Experiments

The scientist directed such experiments in the name of national security, to combat the perceived threat of Russian and Chinese mind control methods. He's also known as the accidental pioneer of the psychedelic movement, as he brought the drug to the CIA in the 1950s, in an effort to investigate the possibilities of manipulating the human mind. Certain participants were volunteers from the CIA, military officers and college students who had awareness of the purpose of the studies. Others, on the other hand, were mental patients, incarcerated persons, drug addicts, and prostitutes forced or misled into substance administration that in some cases left permanent damage.

Creator's Background

Chase earned five Emmys for the Sopranos, a complex drama about a New Jersey mafia family broadly acknowledged with starting the peak era of high-quality TV. After the series, starring the deceased James Gandolfini, concluded in 2007, the creator has mostly focused on feature films. He authored, helmed, and produced the 2012 movie "Not Fade Away". He also co-wrote and produced The Many Saints of Newark, a Sopranos prequel featuring Gandolfini’s son, that debuted in 2021.

TV Comeback

This comeback to TV follows he declared the era of ambitious TV dramas in part defined by his show to be a “blip” that is now over. Speaking to a major publication for the series' quarter-century milestone, the 78-year-old claimed that he had been instructed to "simplify" his screenplays in discussions with executives and advised against making TV content that was overly intricate.

He linked that view in part to his experience attempting to develop a show with the screenwriter Hannah Fidell about a luxury escort who finds herself in witness protection. In multiple discussions with executives, he noted, they were told "the harsh reality" that it was not straightforward enough. "What audience is this targeting?" he remarked. “I guess the stockholders?”

"It appears we are disoriented, and viewers struggle to concentrate, hence we cannot create content that is overly logical, engaging, and demands focus from the audience," he added. “And as for streaming executives? It is getting worse. We’re going back to where we were.”