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David Chase is making a return to the small screen. The iconic mob drama creator is scripting MKUltra, a limited series centered around the Central Intelligence Agency's secret cold war-era psychological manipulation project for the premium network.

Exploring the Series

The project, first reported by entertainment insiders, marks David Chase's first series following the era-defining HBO crime series. This intense narrative, based on the author's book Project Mind Control, focuses on the notorious scientist, referred to as the “black sorcerer” who oversaw Project MKUltra, the CIA's covert psychedelic program that tested hallucinogenic drugs, hypnotic techniques, and torture on volunteers and non-consenting individuals from the early 1950s until it was terminated in the early 1970s.

Research Activities

The scientist directed such experiments in the name of national security, to combat the alleged danger of Russian and Chinese “brainwashing” techniques. He is also regarded as the inadvertent father of the LSD counterculture, as he brought the substance to the CIA in the 1950s, in an attempt to explore the possibilities of controlling human consciousness. Some test subjects were willing individuals from the CIA, military officers and college students who had awareness of the purpose of the studies. Others, however, were psychiatric inmates, prisoners, substance abusers, and sex workers forced or deceived into drug dosages that in some cases resulted in permanent damage.

Creator's Background

David Chase earned five Emmys for the Sopranos, a intricate narrative about a New Jersey crime syndicate broadly acknowledged with starting the golden age of “prestige” television. Since the show, featuring the late James Gandolfini, concluded in 2007, the creator has primarily concentrated on feature films. He wrote, directed and produced the 2012 film Not Fade Away. He also co-wrote and produced The Many Saints of Newark, a Sopranos prequel starring Gandolfini’s son, that premiered in 2021.

Return to Television

This comeback to television comes after he stated the era of sophisticated television series in part defined by his show to be a “blip” that is now over. In an interview with a major publication for the show’s 25th anniversary, the 78-year-old claimed that he had been instructed to "simplify" his scripts in meetings with executives and advised against producing TV content that was overly intricate.

He linked that view in partly to his experience attempting to develop a show with the writer Hannah Fidell about a luxury escort who ends up in witness protection. In numerous meetings with executives, he noted, they were told "the harsh reality" that it was too complex. “Who is this all really for?” he remarked. “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. “And as for streaming executives? It is getting worse. We’re going back to where we were.”