A limited series about the killing of JonBenet Ramsey has landed at Netflix after being put in turnaround at its former home, Paramount+.
The Murder of JonBenet Ramsey, starring Melissa McCarthy and Clive Owen as Patsy and John Ramsey, is set to debut in the winter on Netflix. The series was greenlit at Paramount+ in 2024 — before Paramount’s takeover by Skydance — and comes from 101 Studios (Yellowstone, Landman). Paramount TV Studios was initially involved as well, but will not be credited when the series streams on Netflix.
Production on the series wrapped in early 2025 under the title Unspeakable: The Murder of JonBenet Ramsey. The intent was to have it be the first installment of an anthology series (a la Netflix’s Monster) that would examine unsolved crimes.
After Skydance took over Paramount, however, the series was quietly shelved. Additionally, 101 Studios moved from Paramount to NBCUniversal earlier this year, following Taylor Sheridan — who has worked with 101 on a host of shows — to NBCU.
Netflix describes the limited series as an exploration of “one of the most infamous unsolved murder cases in American history, and the devastating personal and public reckoning that followed the death of JonBenet Ramsey on Christmas night in 1996.”
The streamer has delved into the Ramsey case before with the 2024 documentary series Cold Case: Who Killed JonBenet Ramsey?, directed and executive produced by Joe Berlinger.
Along with McCarthy and Owen, the series stars Emily Mitchell (who plays JonBenet), Garrett Hedlund, Alison Pill, Shea Whigham, Owen Teague, Clifton Collins Jr., Angus Caldwell and Jaime Ray Newman.
Richard LaGravenese is the showrunner and wrote the series with Harrison Query and Tommy Wallach. They executive produce with McCarthy, Anne Sewitsky (who directed four of the eight episodes) and 101 Studios’ David C. Glasser, Ron Burkle, Bob Yari and David Hutkin.
Deadline first reported the news.