Nearly 30 years after JonBenét Ramsey was found dead in her family’s Boulder home, television is still trying to decide what kind of story her case should be. Netflix is now taking the latest swing after acquiring a completed limited series that Paramount+ chose not to release after production had already wrapped. Finished shows do not usually travel this way unless something has gone wrong, changed hands, or become too uncomfortable for the original buyer. In this case, all three seem to be circling the project. The series, now titled The Murder of JonBenét Ramsey, stars Melissa McCarthy and Clive Owen as Patsy and John Ramsey, JonBenét’s parents, whose complicated place in the investigation appears to sit at the center of the drama. It was originally developed under the title Unspeakable: The Murder of JonBenét Ramsey, but it is now expected to premiere on Netflix in winter 2026. We don’t have an exact release date yet, but the winter 2026 window lands with the 30th anniversary of JonBenét’s death on Dec. 25, 1996. According to Netflix, JonBenét was six years old and a child pageant competitor when her mother, Patsy Ramsey, reported her missing the morning after Christmas after a ransom note was found in the family home. Later that day, John Ramsey found his daughter’s body in the basement. The case remains unsolved, and the Boulder investigation has been criticized for years over the handling of the crime scene. Meanwhile, Burke Ramsey, JonBenét’s older brother, was dragged into public speculation around the case, even though his defenders have repeatedly argued that authorities did not treat him as a suspect. In 2016, CBS turned Burke into a major part of the televised Ramsey conversation again with The Case of: JonBenét Ramsey. Though Burke sued the network for $750 million, the case later disappeared into a private settlement.

Paramount’s series may not have been too risky for television, but it may have been too awkward for the one company whose corporate family had already fought a Ramsey-related defamation case. The good news for Netflix is that it has already taken one careful pass at this story with Cold Case: Who Killed JonBenét Ramsey, Joe Berlinger’s 2024 three-part documentary about alleged investigative mishandling. It stirred fresh attention in Colorado, and Boulder police publicly responded after its release by saying they were still working with DNA experts and law enforcement partners (via Axios).

The series comes from writer-creators Harrison Query and Tommy Wallach, with Richard LaGravenese as showrunner and Anne Sewitsky directing. Query reportedly grew up in Boulder and was in JonBenét’s kindergarten class. Interestingly, Query is already moving through the streamer’s thriller machinery with Trigger Point, an A24 action-crime series ordered by Netflix, while his broader slate includes specs such as Kill Switch and The Operator.