HBO is developing a new limited series Project: MKUltra alongside The Sopranos creator David Chase - here's what we know so far

David Chase is developing Project: MKUltra for HBO (Image via YouTube/HBO)
David Chase is developing Project: MKUltra for HBO (Image via YouTube/HBO)

Project: MKUltra, which will tell the story of CIA’s controversial mind control program during the Cold War, is currently being developed at HBO. The limited series will be helmed by the creator of The Sopranos, David Chase. The series will revolve around Sidney Gottlieb who supervised the CIA’s program that conducted precarious mind control experiments using psychedelic drugs and hypnosis. The series will take the audience through the intense and debated CIA history.

Project: MKUltra will be based on the book titled Project Mind Control: Sidney Gottlieb, the CIA, and the Tragedy of MKUltra by bestselling author John Lisle. Chase will adapt the book for the screen.

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David Chase’s The Sopranos, is often considered among one of the greatest television shows of all time. The critically acclaimed HBO series follows Tony Soprano (played by James Gandolfini), a New Jersey mob boss who is seen navigating through the high stakes and dangerous world of organized crime. The series garnered 21 Emmy awards during its six seasons run. Chase won five Emmy awards for the series.

Chase went on to write, direct and produce Not Fade Away in 2012. He also produced The Many Saints of Newark in 2021, which is a prequel movie to The Sopranos. Project: MKUltra will be his first television series since the HBO drama.


What we know about HBO’s Project: MKUltra from Davis Chase?

Project: MKUltra will be a thriller series, which will bring forth one of the more debated parts from CIA history. The story will follow Sidney Gottlieb, a scientist and spy, who was in charge of the MK Ultra Psychedelic program at CIA. The program started in the 1950s.

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MKUltra program used psychedelic drugs and hypnosis on people to reveal secrets. The program was notoriously known for being dangerous because of its unethical torturous experiments on people. Gottlieb was referred to as the ‘Black Sorcerer’, who often used radical methods in his experiments. The project was discontinued in the 1970s.

Gottlieb, the CIA chemist, was known to have used LSD as part of the MKUltra project experiments. The intension behind the project was to stand against brainwashing threats from the Soviet and Chinese. Many of the participants took part in the project of their own accord, but many were forced to go through the same as involuntary participants.

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As per Deadline, David Chase, who created The Sopranos, will take on Project: MKUltra for HBO. The limited series will be based on the non-fiction book by John Lisle. Nicole Lambert will executive produce the project along with Chase. Lambert is the head of production and development at Riverain Pictures. The series is currently in works and details are kept under wraps. There have been no further updates on the possible cast for the series.

Watch this space to stay updated about Project: MKUltra.

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Edited by Meera J Pillai