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David Chase is set for a comeback to television. The Sopranos creator will write MKUltra, a mini-series centered around the CIA's secret Cold War period mind control program for the premium network.

Exploring the Project

The project, first reported by entertainment insiders, will be David Chase's first series since the era-defining HBO mob drama. This intense narrative, based on the author's non-fiction work Project Mind Control, zeroes in on the notorious scientist, referred to as the "dark magician" who led Project MKUltra, the agency's covert psychedelic program that tested psychedelic substances, hypnosis, and physical coercion on willing and unwilling subjects from 1953 until it was terminated in 1973.

Research Activities

Gottlieb oversaw such experiments in the interest of national security, to combat the alleged danger of Soviet and Chinese mind control methods. He is also regarded as the accidental pioneer of the psychedelic movement, as he brought the substance to the CIA in the 1950s, in an effort to investigate the possibilities of manipulating the human mind. Certain participants were willing individuals from the CIA, military officers and university attendees who had awareness of the nature of the studies. Additional subjects, however, were psychiatric inmates, incarcerated persons, substance abusers, and sex workers coerced or deceived into drug dosages that in certain instances left long-term harm.

Chase's Legacy

David Chase earned multiple Emmy Awards for the Sopranos, a complex drama about a New Jersey 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, the creator 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 featuring Michael Gandolfini, that premiered in 2021.

Return to Television

This comeback to TV follows he stated the period of ambitious 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 series' quarter-century milestone, the septuagenarian asserted that he had been instructed to "simplify" his scripts in meetings with executives and advised against producing television that was overly intricate.

He linked that perspective in part to his experience attempting to develop a series with the screenwriter Hannah Fidell about a luxury escort who finds herself in federal protection. In multiple discussions with executives, he said, they were told “the unfortunate truth” that it was too complex. “Who is this all really for?” he remarked. “I guess the stockholders?”

“We seem to be confused and audiences can’t keep their minds on things, so we can’t make anything that makes too much sense, takes our attention and requires an audience to focus,” he continued. “And as for streaming executives? It is getting worse. We’re going back to where we were.”