“The Murder of JonBenét Ramsey” has landed at Netflix after being dropped by Paramount+ late last year. The limited series following the mysterious death of the 6-year-old pageant queen’s death will release globally this winter.
Melissa McCarthy and Clive Owen will star as JonBenét’s parents Patsy and John Bennett Ramsey in the series, written by Harrison Query and Tommy Wallach. The series will be directed by Anne Sewitsky and showrun by Richard LaGravenese.
The limited series follows the unsolved murder case and the public outcry around the death of JonBenét Ramsey. The Netflix series will tell the story through multiple perspectives, including the Ramsey family, investigators and media discourse, according to sources with knowledge of the production.
Query and Wallach initially pitched “The Murder of JonBenét Ramsey” to the previous Paramount ownership — Query felt a personal connection to the story as he was in the same kindergarten class as JonBenét. The series was formally picked up by Paramount+ in September 2024 with filming wrapped in January 2025.
Following Skydance Global’s acquisition of Paramount, the limited series went through a review by new leadership at the streamer, who decided not to move forward with the project.
It is believed the decision was made in part because of the legal risks associated with the sensitive case. JonBenét Ramsey’s brother, Burke Ramsey, filed a $750 million defamation lawsuit against Paramount-owned CBS over the network’s 2016 docuseries, which suggested he was responsible for her death. The parties reached an undisclosed settlement in 2019.
101 Studios shopped the completed limited series around after Paramount passed in it. The production company, home to all of Taylor Sheridan’s series, is now at NBCUniversal, so it would have made sense for the series to go to Peacock, but that partnership did not materialize. Netflix emerged as a likely home since the streamer has had success with its true-crime genre with both documentaries and scripted shows like “Monster: The Ed Gein Story” and “Mindhunter.”
LaGravenese, Query, Wallach, McCarthy and Sewitsky will executive produce the series with David Glasser, Ron Burkle, Bob Yari, David Hutkin for 101 Studios.
“The Murder of JonBenét Ramsey” will premiere this winter timed to the 30-year anniversary of the 6-year-old beauty queen’s killing on Dec. 25, 1996.
