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The acclaimed creator is making a return to television. The iconic mob drama visionary is scripting Project MKUltra, a limited series centered around the Central Intelligence Agency's secret cold war-era mind control program for HBO.

Exploring the Project

The project, first reported by entertainment insiders, marks Chase's first series following the groundbreaking HBO mob drama. The dramatic thriller, inspired by John Lisle's book Project Mind Control, zeroes in on the notorious scientist, referred to as the “black sorcerer” who oversaw Project MKUltra, the agency's clandestine hallucinogen experiments that tested hallucinogenic drugs, hypnotic techniques, and torture on volunteers and non-consenting individuals from 1953 until it was halted in the early 1970s.

The Experiments

The scientist oversaw these tests in the name of national security, to combat the alleged danger of Soviet and Chinese “brainwashing” techniques. He's also known as the inadvertent father of the LSD counterculture, as he brought the substance to the agency in the 1950s, in an effort to investigate the potential of controlling human consciousness. Some test subjects were volunteers from the agency, military officers and university attendees who had awareness of the nature of the experiments. Additional subjects, however, were psychiatric inmates, incarcerated persons, drug addicts, and prostitutes coerced or deceived into drug dosages that in some cases resulted in long-term harm.

Creator's Background

David Chase won multiple Emmy Awards for the Sopranos, a intricate narrative about a New Jersey-based crime syndicate widely credited with ushering in the peak era of high-quality TV. Since the show, starring the late James Gandolfini, wrapped in 2007, Chase has primarily concentrated on movie projects. He authored, helmed, and produced the 2012 movie Not Fade Away. He also co-wrote and produced "The Many Saints of Newark", a prequel to The Sopranos starring Michael Gandolfini, that premiered in 2021.

Return to Television

His return to TV comes after he declared the period of sophisticated TV dramas in part defined by the Sopranos to be a “blip” that is now finished. In an interview with a major publication for the show’s 25th anniversary, the septuagenarian asserted that he had been instructed to “dumb down” his screenplays in discussions with executives and warned against producing television that was too complex.

Chase attributed that view in part to his experience attempting to develop a series with the screenwriter Hannah Fidell about a high-end sex worker who finds herself in witness protection. In numerous meetings with executives, he noted, they were informed “the unfortunate truth” that it was not straightforward enough. "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. "Regarding streaming leaders? The situation is deteriorating. We are reverting to previous conditions."