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The acclaimed creator is making a return to television. The Sopranos creator is scripting MKUltra, a limited series focusing on the CIA's secret cold war-era psychological manipulation project for HBO.

Exploring the Project

The project, initially revealed by industry sources, will be Chase's first series following the era-defining HBO mob drama. The dramatic thriller, inspired by John Lisle's non-fiction work "Project Mind Control", zeroes in on the notorious scientist, known as the "dark magician" who led Project MKUltra, the CIA's covert psychedelic program that administered hallucinogenic drugs, hypnosis, and physical coercion on willing and unwilling subjects from 1953 until it was terminated in 1973.

The Experiments

Gottlieb oversaw these tests in the name of state safety, to combat the alleged danger of Russian and Chinese mind control methods. He's also known as the inadvertent father of the psychedelic movement, as he introduced the drug to the CIA in the mid-20th century, in an attempt to investigate the potential of manipulating the human mind. Certain participants were willing individuals from the agency, armed forces personnel and university attendees who had knowledge of the purpose of the experiments. Others, however, were psychiatric inmates, prisoners, drug addicts, and sex workers forced or misled into substance administration that in some cases left permanent damage.

Creator's Background

David Chase earned five Emmys for his hit series, a complex drama about a New Jersey-based crime syndicate broadly acknowledged with ushering in the golden age of high-quality TV. After the series, starring the late James Gandolfini, wrapped in 2007, Chase has primarily concentrated on feature films. He wrote, directed and produced the 2012 film Not Fade Away. He also co-wrote and produced "The Many Saints of Newark", a Sopranos prequel featuring Michael Gandolfini, that debuted in 2021.

TV Comeback

His return to television follows he stated the period of sophisticated TV dramas in part defined by the Sopranos to be a "temporary phase" that is now over. In an interview with a leading newspaper for the show’s 25th anniversary, the septuagenarian claimed that he had been instructed to “dumb down” his screenplays in discussions with studio heads and advised against producing television that was overly intricate.

Chase linked that view in partly to his experience attempting to develop a series with the writer Hannah Fidell about a luxury escort who finds herself in federal protection. In numerous meetings with producers, he said, they were told “the unfortunate truth” that it was too complex. "What audience is this targeting?" he said. "Presumably, the investors?"

"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 continued. “And as for streaming executives? It is getting worse. We’re going back to where we were.”