Netflix is stepping into one of America's most scrutinized cold cases with a starry scripted take on JonBenet Ramsey's killing. The streamer has acquired completed limited series The Murder of JonBenet Ramsey, led by Melissa McCarthy and Clive Owen as Patsy and John Ramsey, and plans a global winter release timed to the 30th anniversary of the 6-year-old's 1996 death, Deadline reports. The series traces the Boulder murder and its fallout through the eyes of the family, investigators, and the media, and arrives as Netflix leans further into high-profile true-crime storytelling. It previously released Cold Case: Who Killed JonBenet Ramsey, which nabbed 13.4 million views in its first week in November 2024.
Developed by 101 Studios and originally ordered by Paramount+, the project was dropped after new leadership reportedly weighed legal exposure tied to past defamation litigation involving JonBenet's brother, Burke. He sued CBS, a division of Paramount, for $750 million after its 2016 docuseries painted him as the killer, resulting in a settlement. John Ramsey has said the family will pursue legal action again if the new series offers similar framing. Netflix calls it an exploration of "one of the most infamous unsolved murder cases in American history, and the devastating personal and public reckoning that followed," per the Hollywood Reporter. It comes from showrunner Richard LaGravenese, director Anne Sewitsky, and writers Tommy Wallach and Harrison Query, who attended kindergarten with JonBenet, played by Emily Mitchell.
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