One of the most notorious scandals in recent memory, the 1996 murder of JonBenét Ramsey has been the subject of many true crime specials and podcasts. Given the popularity of true crime right now, it was inevitable that the case would also become a star-driven miniseries, and Paramount+ is making it happen with a powerhouse duo.
Melissa McCarthy and Clive Owen will star a Patsy and Jon Ramsey in a JonBenét Ramsey limited series that Paramount+ has given the greenlight. Patsy and Jon were the young pageant queen’s parents, and also suspects in the child’s murder on Christmas Day 1996.
Here’s how the show is being described by Deadline:
JonBenét Ramsey explores the tragic unsolved murder of the eponymous six-year-old beauty queen. It 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.
Richard LaGravanese will act as showrunner and exec-producer. He’s known for his work on the films Beautiful Creatures, The Last Five Years, and A Family Affair, along with the short-lived legal drama The Divide. Four of the eight episodes will be directed by Anna Sewitsky (Presumed Innocent, A Very British Scandal), also an exec-producer.
