Six-year-old JonBenét Ramsey’s 1996 murder is one of America’s most infamous true crime stories, and Netflix is digging into it with the limited series The Murder of JonBenét Ramsey, with Clive Owen and Melissa McCarthy starring as parents Patsy and John Bennett Ramsey.
The series, as Deadline reports, was originally a Paramount+ project, but the studio decided not to move forward with it due to concern over the legal risk involved with a true crime story. Netflix became the most likely destination for the series in February, with negotiations (and presumably a legal review) taking a few months before the show’s new home was confirmed.
The Murder of JonBenét Ramsey, according to a press release, “centers on one of the most infamous unsolved murder cases in American history, and the devastating personal and public reckoning that followed the death of JonBenet Ramsey on Christmas night in 1996.”
Writer Richard LaGravenese, an Oscar nominee for The Fisher King who also wrote Behind the Candelabra and The Bridges of Madison County, will serve as showrunner, with Anne Sewitsky (Presumed Innocent, A Very British Scandal) directing some episodes. Harrison Query and Tommy Wallach co-wrote the series.
In addition to McCarthy and Owen, the cast includes Emily Mitchell as JonBenét Ramsey as well as Garrett Hedlund, Alison Pill, Shea Whigham, Owen Teague, Clifton Collins Jr., Angus Caldwell, and Jaime Ray Newman. Recurring guest stars include Rory Cochrane, Chris Bauer, Will Patton and guest stars Margo Martindale and Tzi Ma.
