Melissa McCarthy’s casting in the Netflix’s forthcoming miniseries on the death of JonBenét Ramsey garnered a number of reactions from fans surprised at the selection.
The streaming service on Wednesday said that the limited series, which will see McCarthy and Clive Owen play the respective roles of Patsy and John Ramsey, will debut later this year.
It ‘will explore how the murder of the 6-year-old captivated – and divided – the nation,’ Netflix said in a synopsis on its website Tudum. ‘Told from multiple angles, the series unravels the speculation and unresolved grief.’
A number of users took to social media in the wake of the announcement McCarthy would play the late JonBenet’s mother, who died from ovarian cancer at 49 in 2006.
‘Casting McCarthy as Patsy Ramsey is a bold choice, but it risks turning a grim tragedy into a caricature’ one user said. ‘It’s hard to maintain the tension of a cold case when the lead’s comedic timing is that recognizable.’
The Daily Mail has reached out to representatives for McCarthy for further comment on the story.
Melissa McCarthy’s casting in the Netflix’s forthcoming miniseries on the death of JonBenét Ramsey garnered reactions from fans surprised at the selection. Pictured in LA in April
Another user on X suggested sarcastically, ‘Please tell me this is a slapstick comedy.’
One user said that ‘McCarthy as Patsy Ramsey is bold casting against-type drama roles work when actors commit fully.’
Some users said that the retelling of the tragic story was redundant, as it’s the latest in a series of releases about the beauty pageant contestant’s murder in nearly three decades since her death.
‘How many times must a story be told with a different twist or different perspective,’ said one user. ‘Damn all movies are the same way.’
Others on Reddit and X expressed concern the film might not present an impartial narrative.
‘Oh lord,’ one user said. ‘Netflix out here about to make the Ramsey the sexiest most sympathetic parents on the planet.’
JonBenét Ramsey was found fatally beaten and strangled on December 26, 1996 at the Boulder, Colorado home her family lived in. The probe into her unsolved death continues to be open.
Authorities had previously cleared Patsy and John Ramsey of suspicion, as former DA Mary Lacy penned a letter to John Ramsey in 2008 saying that DNA evaluation had eliminated her family as suspects.
John and Patsy Ramsey, the parents of JonBenet Ramsey, spoke to reporters in Boulder, Colorado on May 1, 1997. Patsy Ramsey died from ovarian cancer at 49 in 2006
Clive Owen, who plays John Ramsey, pictured earlier this month in Taormina, Italy
A number of users took to social media in the wake of the announcement McCarthy would play the late JonBenet’s mother
‘We do not consider your immediate family including you, your wife, Patsy, and your son Burke to be under any suspicion in the commission of this crime,’ Lacy said.
The miniseries had been initially added by Paramount+ but the platform later decided not to go ahead with it.
Emily Mitchell joins McCarthy and Owen in the cast of the miniseries in the role of JonBenét Ramsey.
The limited series will also feature Garrett Hedlund, Alison Pill, Chris Bauer, Shea Whigham, Owen Teague, Clifton Collins Jr., Angus Caldwell and Jaime Ray Newman.
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