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The acclaimed creator is set for a return to the small screen. The Sopranos creator is scripting Project MKUltra, a mini-series centered around the CIA's secret cold war-era mind control program for HBO.

Exploring the Series

The project, initially revealed by entertainment insiders, will be Chase's initial TV project since the groundbreaking HBO mob drama. The dramatic thriller, inspired by John Lisle's non-fiction work Project Mind Control, zeroes in on Sidney Gottlieb, known as the “black sorcerer” who oversaw Project MKUltra, the CIA's clandestine psychedelic program that tested hallucinogenic drugs, hypnotic techniques, and physical coercion on willing and unwilling subjects from 1953 until it was halted in 1973.

Research Activities

The scientist directed these tests in the name of national security, to counter the alleged danger of Russian and Chinese mind control methods. He is also regarded as the accidental pioneer of the psychedelic movement, as he introduced the substance to the CIA in the mid-20th century, in an effort to investigate the possibilities of manipulating human consciousness. Some test subjects were volunteers from the agency, military officers and university attendees who had knowledge of the nature of the studies. Additional subjects, on the other hand, were mental patients, prisoners, substance abusers, and prostitutes coerced or misled into drug dosages that in some cases left long-term harm.

Creator's Background

Chase won five Emmys for the Sopranos, a intricate narrative about a New Jersey mafia family widely credited with ushering in the peak era of “prestige” television. After the series, starring the late James Gandolfini, wrapped in 2007, the creator has mostly focused on movie projects. He wrote, directed 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.

TV Comeback

His return to television follows he stated the period of ambitious television series in part shaped by the Sopranos to be a "temporary phase" that is now finished. Speaking to a major publication for the series' quarter-century milestone, the 78-year-old claimed that he had been instructed to "simplify" his screenplays in discussions with executives and advised against making TV content that was too complex.

Chase attributed that view in part to his experience attempting to develop a series with the writer Hannah Fidell about a luxury escort who ends up in witness protection. In multiple discussions with producers, he said, they were informed "the harsh reality" that it was not straightforward enough. “Who is this all really for?” he remarked. "Presumably, the investors?"

“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.”