David Chase has embarked on a bold new venture for HBO, a venture that takes him worlds away from the realm of "The Sopranos." He has acquired the nonfiction book "Project Mind Control: Sidney Gottlieb, the CIA, and the Tragedy of MKULTRA" by John Lisle, with plans to adapt it into a gripping limited series. The drama, titled "Project: MKUltra," is currently in the development stage at the premium outlet. If it makes it to series, it will be Chase's first foray into HBO since "The Many Saints of Newark," a prequel film to "The Sopranos" that debuted on HBO Max simultaneously with its theatrical release in 2021.
HBO describes "Project: MKUltra" as a dramatic thriller centered on the infamous chemist and spymaster Sidney Gottlieb, often referred to as "The Black Sorcerer." Gottlieb was the head of the CIA's MKUltra Psychedelic program, which conducted dangerous and deadly mind control experiments on both willing and unwilling subjects during the height of the Cold War. He is also known as the unwitting godfather of the entire LSD counterculture.
Chase will executive produce the project through his Riverain Pictures, along with Nicole Lambert, head of production and development for the company.
"The Sopranos" ran from 1999 to 2007 on HBO, earning 21 Emmy Awards and acclaim as one of the greatest series of the 21st century so far. Since then, Chase has written and directed the 2012 feature "Not Fade Away" and co-wrote (with Lawrence Konner) and produced "The Many Saints of Newark" (directed by frequent Sopranos collaborator Alan Taylor).
He also sold a project about the witness protection program to FX, based on a previously unproduced script of his, but exited due to schedule conflicts with a feature film he’s developing. Hannah Fidell (A Teacher) and Gina Welch are co-showrunners on the FX project, which stars Alison Brie, Ashley Thomas, and Finn Wittrock; Lambert is an executive producer.
