“JonBenét Ramsey”: True crime drama starring Melissa McCarthy, Clive Owen and Garrett Hedlund

Paramount+ announces the production of a miniseries called “JonBenét Ramsey”, named after the victim in one of the most famous murder cases, a little girl in the USA in the 1990s. The main roles are Melissa McCarthy ( “Nine Perfect Strangers”, “The Bird”) and Clive Owen ( “Mr. Spade”, “The Knick”) as the parents, who quickly came under suspicion and had to endure a public witch hunt.

The six-year-old victim is played by young actress Emily Mitchell ( “The Apprentice – The Trump Story”). In addition, Garrett Hedlund ( “Tulsa King”) as Detective Steve Thomas and Alison Pill ( “Trap: No Way Out”) as Detective Linda Arndt, who was the first to be called to the crime scene along with her partner Detective Trujillo. Owen Teague ( “Reckless”) stars as journalist Jeff Shapiro, Shea Whigham ( “Boardwalk Empire”) plays prosecutor Alex Hunter and Will Patton ( “Yellowstone”) plays Lou Smith, a legend among law enforcement officers who has worked on over 150 murder cases.

The mysterious murder of JonBenét Ramsey

The still unsolved murder of JonBenét Ramsey caused an incredible media frenzy in the USA in the mid-1990s, with the girl’s young parents quickly becoming suspected of being her murderers, as the murdered child was found under their roof.

Six-year-old JonBenét Ramsey was taken to children’s pageants by her parents at a very young age as an aspiring beauty queen. Then, at Christmas 1996, the dramatic turn of events occurred, when the girl was reported missing by her parents – and was found murdered in the basement of her parents’ house just a short time later. Before the gruesome discovery, the parents received a blackmail letter on the same day, saying that the girl had been kidnapped and that a ransom was being demanded. Despite the complaints, the worried parents called the police anyway, and shortly afterwards the father found the murdered child in the basement.

The plot of the series focuses on the parents of the murdered child, mother Patsy (McCarthy) and father John (Owen), and tells of the time before and after the murder of their daughter. Up until that black day, they embodied the facade of a perfect family and now had to cope not only with the death of their own child, but also with countless public accusations in the ensuing media storm, which quickly labelled them as perpetrators…

To this day, the case remains one of the most discussed and mysterious unsolved murder cases in the USA and has often served as the basis for various film adaptations, novels and documentaries.

The eight-part miniseries “JonBenét Ramsey” is directed by Richard LaGravenese ( “A family affair”, “Beautiful creatures”, “The Bridges of Madison County”) as author, showrunner and producer for MTV Entertainment Studios and 101 Studios. The series is directed by Anne Sewitsky ( “Monster”, “A Very English Scandal”). Filming will soon take place in Calgary, Canada. A broadcast date is planned for next year.