David Chase speaks at Karlovy Vary about what he would change in The Sopranos and details an HBO limited-series plan tied to MKUltra

The seven-time Emmy winner David Chase addressed reporters during the 60th edition of the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival in the Czech Republic on Tuesday, discussing the enduring audience for The Sopranos and what he would revise if he were making the series again. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Chase fielded questions from multiple groups of reporters at the festival and also turned to his current work at HBO.

Chase’s remarks focused on the show’s continuing resonance, with the outlet reporting that he described the lasting impact on viewers in emotional terms while also linking the pleasure of that reception to the personal realities that shaped the series’ tone. The same roundtable also included questions about James Gandolfini, the actor who starred as Tony Soprano, and Chase said there is still an actor he would love to work with, though additional details beyond the fact of his remarks were not included in the material reviewed here.

Chase also used the Karlovy Vary setting to discuss Hollywood’s structure in earlier decades, telling reporters that filmmaking culture in the 1970s was “like apartheid.” He did not frame the comment as a specific dispute over any one production, but as a general statement about industry segregation and who had access to creative opportunity during that period, The Hollywood Reporter reported.

In a separate line of discussion, Chase addressed his HBO project that was unveiled in the fall, a limited series based on John Lisle’s nonfiction book Project Mind Control: Sidney Gottlieb, the CIA and the Tragedy of MKULTRA. The Hollywood Reporter reported that Chase optioned the book and that, if the project moves forward as a series, it would be his first HBO effort after The Sopranos prequel film.

The outlet said HBO has described Project: MKUltra as a dramatic thriller centered on Sidney Gottlieb, often called “The Black Sorcerer,” who headed the CIA’s MKUltra Psychedelic program. HBO’s description, as relayed by The Hollywood Reporter, portrays the program as conducting dangerous and deadly mind-control experiments on both willing and unwilling subjects during the Cold War and as a later influence on the LSD counterculture.

Chase told reporters he is currently in the “story stage,” and he outlined elements he said would shape the project’s approach to the material. The Hollywood Reporter reported that he specifically referenced LSD’s origins and the CIA’s interest in it, describing the agency’s intent as seeking to weaponize LSD and noting the large-scale funding involved. Any further specifics about casting, production timing, or whether HBO has formally greenlit the limited series were not included in the reviewed material.

The Karlovy Vary appearance came a day before Chase was scheduled to participate in expanded festival programming for industry professionals, The Hollywood Reporter reported. For fans of The Sopranos, the remarks offered a rare creator’s perspective at a major international film festival, while for HBO audiences, the reporter’s account also tied Chase’s next television project to a well-known government program, indicating that his follow-on work will likely blend period history with a thriller structure if it proceeds.