Melissa McCarthy & Clive Owen To Headline JonBenét Ramsey Limited Series At Paramount+

Rosy Cordero and Denise Petski
·3 min read

Melissa McCarthy (The Little Mermaid) and Clive Owen (Monsieur Spade) are set to lead the cast of a JonBenét Ramsey limited series, from Yellowstone producers MTV Entertainment Studios & 101 Studios, which has been given an official series greenlight at Paramount+.

McCarthy will play JonBenet Ramsey’s mother Patsy Ramsey and Owen will play father John Bennett Ramsey in the project, tentatively titled JonBenét Ramsey.

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As Deadline previously reported, the limited series had been eying a green light, with Paramount+ rumored as the distribution platform.

Production will begin shortly in Calgary, Canada, with Richard LaGravenese serving as showrunner and executive producer. Four of the eight episodes, including the first episode, will be directed by Anne Sewitsky (Presumed Innocent), who will also serve as executive producer.

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.

“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 Chris McCarthy, Paramount Global Co-CEO and President/CEO, Showtime & MTV Entertainment Studios.

The series was created and written by Harrison Query and Tommy Wallach who sold it as a pitch to producers MTV Entertainment Studios and 101 Studios. David C. Glasser, Ron Burkle, Bob Yari, David Hutkin, Melissa McCarthy, and Sewitsky will executive produce with writers La Gravenese, Query and Wallach.

“We have been working to bring this thought provoking and bold project to audiences for some time now and could not be happier with the top notch team working in front of and behind the camera,” said David Glasser, CEO of 101 Studios.

Reported missing from her Boulder, Colorado home on December 26, 1996, JonBenét Ramsey was found dead several hours later in the basement of the home, along with a long ransom note. An autopsy revealed the cause of death as strangulation and was ruled a homicide.

Boulder police initially believe JonBenét’s mother, Patsy, had written the ransom note, and that the note and child’s body had been staged by her parents in an effort to cover up the murder. Her brother, who was 9 at the time of JonBenét’s death, was cleared as a suspect in 1999.

In 2013, unsealed court documents revealed that a 1999 grand jury had recommended filing charges against the Ramseys, which included hindering the prosecution, but the DA determined there was insufficient evidence to pursue a successful indictment. The case remains cold to this day.

“JonBenét Ramsey continues to be one of the country’s most fascinating unsolved murders,” said Jeff Grossman, Executive Vice President, Programming, Paramount+. “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.”

McCarthy is repped by CAA and MGMT Entertainment. Owen is repped by CAA and Hirsch Wallerstein Hayum Matlof and Fishman.

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