Melissa McCarthy and Clive Owen are teaming up to tell the story of JonBenét Ramsey, one of the most infamous true crime cases in American history. The pair will star in a limited series about Ramsey for Paramount+, the streamer announced. The show, tentatively titled JonBenét Ramsey, has been greenlit ahead of the upcoming 28th anniversary of Ramsey‘s murder, which remains one of the most notorious unsolved cases of the 20th century.
Ramsey, a 6-year-old beauty queen and child pageant contestant from Boulder, Colorado, was found murdered in her basement alongside a handwritten ransom note on Dec. 25, 1996. The killer has never been identified, and the case remains an open investigation to this day. McCarthy and Owen will play Ramsey’s parents, Patsy Ramsey and John Bennett Ramsey, respectively. The show “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,” according to a synopsis from Paramount. 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.”
Production on the show is soon set to get underway in Canada. Richard LaGravenese serves as showrunner and executive producer on the series, which comes from MTV Entertainment Studios and 101 Studios. Four of the eight episodes will be directed by Anne Sewitsky, who is also executive producing. Additional executive producers include McCarthy, David C. Glasser, Ron Burkle, Bob Yari, David Hutkin, and writers Harrison Query and Tommy Wallach.
McCarthy and Owen are Both Accomplished Actors
McCarthy and Owen will be adding this limited series to an already impressive resumé of projects. McCarthy is best known as a comedic actor, gaining significant recognition for her role in the 2011 comedy Bridesmaids alongside Kristen Wiig. Since then, McCarthy has won a slew of awards, including two Primetime Emmys and two Oscar nominations, and has starred in projects like Spy, The Boss, and The Little Mermaid. She is also known for starring in the CBS sitcom Mike & Molly, and can currently be seen in Season 4 of Hulu‘s popular mystery series Only Murders in the Building.
Owen is the recipient of a BAFTA, Golden Globe, and an Academy Award nomination. He got his start in the 1990s with a breakthrough role in the film Close My Eyes and over the decades has appeared in projects like Sin City, King Arthur, Children of Men, Impeachment: American Crime Story, Elizabeth: The Golden Age, and more. He will next be seen in the upcoming action thriller film Cleaner alongside Daisy Ridley, whom he previously worked with in Ophelia.
No release window for the JonBenét Ramsey limited series has been announced.
via Collider