Variety reports that Melissa McCarthy and Clive Owen are set to lead a limited series on the unsolved 1996 murder of JonBenét Ramsey at Paramount+.
The story will follows the Ramsey family “before and after” the tragic murder of six-year-old JonBenét, who had participated in numerous child pageants growing up in Boulder, Colorado. The mysterious circumstances of her death generated major media attention, putting her parents as well as her brother Burke in the center of controversy.
McCarthy will play JonBenet Ramsey’s mother Patsy Ramsey and Owen will play father John Bennett Ramsey in the eight-episode true crime project, tentatively titled JonBenét Ramsey. Deadline previously reported that the limited series was expected to land at Paramount+.
The series synopsis reads that the project “follows the Ramsey family, before and after the tragedy as they go through the painful loss of a child while facing intense public scrutiny caused by a media frenzy that caused this case to captivate an entire nation. At the heart of the series, it is the story of Patsy and John Ramsey – exploring the unbreakable partnership of these two complex people – as husband and wife, as mother and father – who had committed themselves and their children to building the narrative of a perfect, privileged life only to have it destroyed one Christmas night in 1996.”
Chris McCarthy, Paramount Global Co-CEO and President/CEO of Showtime & MTV Entertainment Studios, said in a statement: “Melissa McCarthy and Clive Owen are an extraordinary duo to delve into this tragic story that has cast a long, haunting shadow over American culture for nearly three decades,” said
Jeff Grossman, Executive Vice President of Programming for Paramount+ adds: “JonBenét Ramsey continues to be one of the country’s most fascinating unsolved murders. The incredible talent of Melissa McCarthy, Clive Owen and the creative team led by Richard LaGravenese will illuminate her story with the acuity and nuance it deserves.”
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