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The acclaimed creator is set for a comeback to the small screen. The Sopranos creator is scripting Project MKUltra, a limited series focusing on the Central Intelligence Agency's covert Cold War period psychological manipulation project for the premium network.

Exploring the Project

This new venture, first reported by industry sources, marks Chase's first series since the groundbreaking HBO mob drama. The dramatic thriller, inspired by the author's book "Project Mind Control", zeroes in on the notorious scientist, known as the “black sorcerer” who oversaw the MKUltra initiative, the agency's covert hallucinogen experiments that tested psychedelic substances, hypnotic techniques, and torture on volunteers and non-consenting individuals from 1953 until it was halted in 1973.

The Experiments

The scientist directed these tests in the name of national security, to counter the alleged danger of Soviet and Chinese mind control methods. He is also regarded as the inadvertent father of the psychedelic movement, as he introduced the drug to the agency in the mid-20th century, in an effort to explore the potential of controlling human consciousness. Some test subjects were willing individuals from the CIA, armed forces personnel and university attendees who had awareness of the nature of the studies. Others, on the other hand, were psychiatric inmates, prisoners, drug addicts, and sex workers coerced or deceived into drug dosages that in some cases left long-term harm.

Chase's Legacy

Chase won five Emmys for the Sopranos, a intricate narrative about a New Jersey mafia family broadly acknowledged with ushering in the golden age of high-quality TV. Since the show, featuring the late James Gandolfini, wrapped in 2007, the creator has primarily concentrated on movie projects. 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 Gandolfini’s son, that premiered in 2021.

Return to Television

This comeback to TV follows he stated the period of ambitious television series in part defined by the Sopranos to be a “blip” that is now over. 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 television that was too complex.

He linked that view in part to his encounter trying to make a show with the screenwriter Hannah Fidell about a high-end sex worker who ends up in federal protection. In multiple discussions with producers, he noted, they were told “the unfortunate truth” that it was too complex. "What audience is this targeting?" 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.”