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David Chase is making a return to the small screen. The iconic mob drama visionary will write Project MKUltra, a limited series focusing on the CIA's secret cold war-era mind control program for HBO.

Exploring the Project

The project, initially revealed by industry sources, marks Chase's initial TV project following the groundbreaking HBO mob drama. The dramatic thriller, inspired by John Lisle's non-fiction work Project Mind Control, focuses on the notorious scientist, known as the “black sorcerer” who led Project MKUltra, the agency's covert hallucinogen experiments that administered hallucinogenic drugs, hypnosis, and physical coercion on willing and unwilling subjects from 1953 until it was halted in 1973.

Research Activities

The scientist oversaw these tests in the name of national security, to combat the perceived threat of Russian and Chinese mind control methods. 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 explore the potential of manipulating human consciousness. Certain participants were willing individuals from the CIA, military officers and college students who had knowledge of the nature of the experiments. Others, on the other hand, were mental patients, incarcerated persons, drug addicts, and prostitutes coerced or deceived into substance administration that in certain instances resulted in permanent damage.

Chase's Legacy

Chase won multiple Emmy Awards for his hit series, a intricate narrative about a New Jersey-based crime syndicate broadly acknowledged with starting the golden age of “prestige” television. Since the show, featuring the late James Gandolfini, wrapped in 2007, the creator has primarily concentrated 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 prequel to The Sopranos starring Gandolfini’s son, that premiered in 2021.

TV Comeback

This comeback to television comes after he stated the era of ambitious television series in part defined by his show to be a "temporary phase" that is now finished. In an interview with a leading newspaper for the show’s 25th anniversary, the septuagenarian claimed that he had been told to "simplify" his screenplays in discussions with studio heads and warned against making television that was overly intricate.

He attributed that perspective in part to his experience attempting to develop a series with the writer Hannah Fidell about a luxury escort who finds herself in witness protection. In numerous meetings with executives, he said, they were informed “the unfortunate truth” that it was not straightforward enough. "What audience is this targeting?" he said. “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. "Regarding streaming leaders? The situation is deteriorating. We are reverting to previous conditions."