Actors Clive Owen and Melissa McCarthy picked to play parents of murdered JonBenet Ramsey in new TV drama

By 
 September 8, 2024

Nearly 30 years later, the unsolved mysteries surrounding the brutal 1996 murder of 6-year-old beauty pageant queen JonBenet Ramsey in Boulder, Colorado, continue to captivate audiences and will soon be featured in a new dramatic TV series.

It was announced this week that the slain girl's parents, John and Patsy Ramsey, will be portrayed by actors Clive Own and Melissa McCarthy in the upcoming show that is slated to air on Paramount+, MovieWeb reported.

And while the Ramsey case has been extensively scrutinized through several documentaries and specials, this appears to be the first significant scripted effort to dramatically tell the tragic story by a major studio.

New limited series about Ramsey murder

Deadline reported this week that actors Own and McCarthy had been cast to play the parents in the forthcoming limited series project from producers producers MTV Entertainment Studios and 101 Studios that is tentatively titled JonBenét Ramsey.

The show "explores the tragic unsolved murder of the eponymous six-year-old beauty queen" nearly three decades ago and will focus on members of the family "before and after the tragedy" as they deal with the horrific loss of the child and the "intense public scrutiny caused by a media frenzy" that included them being viewed as suspects.

Chris McCarthy, the co-CEO of Paramount Global and the President/CEO of Showtime and MTV Entertainment Studios, said, "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."

He was echoed by Jeff Grossman, the executive vice president of programming at Paramount+, who said, "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."

101 Studios CEO David Glasser said of the new scripted series, "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."

Father still searching for answers about daughter's murder

MovieWeb noted that for several years after the 1996 beating, sexual assault, and strangulation of JonBenet Ramsey, who was first reported missing by her parents before her body was later discovered in the basement, it was the girl's parents and older brother who were considered the primary suspects in the terrible slaying.

They were eventually cleared of any wrongdoing and, since then, various theories about other possible alleged killers have been explored by law enforcement, private detectives, amatuer sleuths, documentarians, and true-crime special reports.

Father John Ramsey has been at the forefront of the effort to find the answers to the remaining questions about his daughter's untimely death and has been pressuring the Boulder Police Department to continue investigating the cold case, according to People magazine.

He has beefed with the local police almost since the incident occurred and has accused the department at various points of malfeasance and sitting on alleged DNA evidence that has never been tested.

His efforts and the case of his daughter's unsolved murder will be featured in the debut episode of a new Fox-network series "True Crime News" hosted by investigative journalist Ana Garcia that, as the name implies, will delve into certain well-known cases while also bringing attention to other lesser known criminal happenings.

"We’re not asking you to clear us or apologize or be nice to us again," Ramsey told Garcia of his message to the police in his quest for answers. "Just do the things that you should do that can be done. If you do that and we don't get an answer, we tried. We did everything we could do."

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