Shea Whigham & Will Patton Join Paramount+’s ‘JonBenét Ramsey’ Limited Series

EXCLUSIVE: Shea Whigham and Will Patton have been tapped for major roles opposite Melissa McCarthy and Clive Owen in JonBenét Ramsey (working title), a limited series for Paramount+ from MTV Entertainment Studios and 101 Studios.

JonBenét Ramsey explores the tragic unsolved murder of the eponymous six-year-old beauty queen. It follows the Ramsey family, before and after the tragedy as they go through the painful loss of a child while facing intense public scrutiny caused by a media frenzy that caused this case to captivate an entire nation. At the heart of the series, it is the story of Patsy (McCarthy) and John Ramsey (Owen) – exploring the unbreakable partnership of these two complex people – as husband and wife, as mother and father – who had committed themselves and their children to building the narrative of a perfect, privileged life only to have it destroyed one Christmas night in 1996.

Whigham will play District Attorney Alex Hunter, an acquaintance of the Ramsey family. Patton will play Lou Smith, a legend among law enforcement, who has worked over 150 homicide cases in Boulder Springs.

Production is beginning in Calgary, Canada, with Richard LaGravenese serving as showrunner and executive producer. Four of the eight episodes, including the first episode, will be directed by Anne Sewitsky, who will also serve as executive producer.

Harrison Query and Tommy Wallach sold the project to MTV Entertainment Studios and 101 Studios and serve as writers alongside La Gravenese. The trio executive produce with David C. Glasser, Ron Burkle, Bob Yari, David Hutkin, Melissa McCarthy, and Sewitsky.

This marks Whigham’s latest collaboration with Glasser and Paramount after his roles in the limited series Waco and its sequel as well as Lawmen: Bass Reeves. He was recently seen in HBO’s Perry Mason and Starz’s Gaslit, and next reprises his Briggs character in Mission Impossible 8. He is repped by WME and Range.

Patton returns to Studio 101/MTVE Studios after a stint on Yellowstone. Recently seen in Prime Video’s Outer Range, he is currently on screen in Kevin Costner‘s Horizon: An American Saga. He is repped by IAG, Grand View Management