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David Chase is making a return to the small screen. The iconic mob drama visionary will write Project MKUltra, a mini-series focusing on the Central Intelligence Agency's secret cold war-era mind control program for the premium network.

About the Series

The project, initially revealed by industry sources, will be Chase's initial TV project since the groundbreaking HBO crime series. This intense narrative, based on the author's book Project Mind Control, focuses on the notorious scientist, known as the "dark magician" who led Project MKUltra, the agency's covert hallucinogen experiments that tested hallucinogenic drugs, hypnotic techniques, and physical coercion on volunteers and non-consenting individuals from 1953 until it was terminated in the early 1970s.

The Experiments

The scientist oversaw such experiments in the interest of state safety, to counter the alleged danger of Soviet and Chinese “brainwashing” techniques. He is also regarded as the accidental pioneer of the psychedelic movement, as he introduced the drug to the CIA in the 1950s, in an effort to explore the potential of controlling the human mind. Certain participants were volunteers from the CIA, military officers and college students who had knowledge of the nature of the studies. Additional subjects, however, were psychiatric inmates, incarcerated persons, substance abusers, and sex workers coerced or misled into drug dosages that in certain instances resulted in permanent damage.

Creator's Background

Chase won multiple Emmy Awards for the Sopranos, a intricate narrative about a New Jersey crime syndicate widely credited with starting the golden age of high-quality TV. Since the show, starring the late James Gandolfini, wrapped in 2007, the creator has mostly focused on feature films. He authored, helmed, and produced the 2012 film "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

His return to television comes after he stated the period of ambitious television series in part shaped by his show to be a "temporary phase" that is now over. In an interview with a major publication for the show’s 25th anniversary, the 78-year-old asserted that he had been told to "simplify" his scripts in discussions with studio heads and warned against producing television that was too complex.

He attributed that view in part to his experience attempting to develop a show with the writer Hannah Fidell about a high-end sex worker who finds herself in witness 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 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.”