The Sopranos creator David Chase is returning to TV with a new show about an infamous mind control experiment by the CIA.
Running from 1999-2007, the HBO hit told the story of Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini), a New Jersey mob boss who seeks therapy after suffering panic attacks. The show is considered one of the greatest ever made, and is credited with bringing about a second “golden age” of prestige television, an era that saw the arrival of more mature shows such as Breaking Bad, The Wire and Game Of Thrones.
Chase has not made any television shows since The Sopranos ended, focusing on film projects such as Sopranos prequel The Many Saints Of Newark. However, according to a report by Deadline, that is about to change.
Chase’s new show, titled Project: MKUltra, is a limited series based on the non-fiction book Project Mind Control: Sidney Gottlieb, the CIA, and the Tragedy of MKUltra by author John Lisle.
The article describes the plot as “centered on the infamous chemist and spymaster Sidney Gottlieb, often known as The Black Sorcerer, who headed the CIA’s MKUltra Psychedelic program which conducted dangerous and deadly mind control experiments on willing – and unwilling – subjects during the height of the Cold War. Gottlieb is also known as the unwitting godfather of the entire LSD counterculture.”
No casting announcements or airing dates have been announced as yet. However, Chase will be writing the series as well as serving as executive producer.
In April, Chase looked back on The Sopranos in a biography of James Gandolfini’s life. In it, he recalled being shown the actor as he was being considered for the lead, and initially thinking he wasn’t “threatening” enough to play a mob boss.