‘The Private Lives Of Elizabeth And Essex’ Is Your Must-Watch HBO Max Addition In December
by Erik Amaya
Every so often, the list of titles coming to HBO Max offers a genuine classic. Just not by virtue of it being an older film, but one that inspires and, especially these days, looks startling. In December, that movie is The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex. Directed by Michael Curtiz and starring Bette Davis, Errol Flynn, and Olivia de Havilland, it is a historical melodrama centered on the relationship between Queen Elizabeth I (Davis) and the Earl of Essex (Flynn). There’s drama, recrimination, scandals, war, and Vincent Price as Sir Walter Raleigh. And all of it is contained in some gorgeous Technicolor photography. It might not be the sort of film we typically feature here, but it is a treasure you should give a try.
If classic Hollywood melodrama isn’t your thing, we’ll note Atomic Blonde, Millennium Actress, Perfect Blue, Shin Godzilla, and X-Men: First Class will be available on the first of the month for those who want something more in a genre vein. Of course, those are just our picks. Check out everything coming to HBO Max next month below:
December 1st
90 Day Fiancé: Happily Ever After: Pillow Talk, Season 9 (TLC)
Adult Swim Yule Log (Adult Swim)
Adult Swim Yule Log 2: Branchin’ Out (Adult Swim)
Atomic Blonde
Battle of the Sexes
Bright Leaf
Christmas with the Kranks
Dames
DeLorean
Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days
Girls Trip
Gunsmoke in Tucson
Hidden Figures
I’ll See You in My Dreams (1952)
Illegal
Jim Thorpe: All-American
Jimmy the Gent
Key Largo
Kid Galahad
Larceny Inc.
Law of the Badlands
Little Caesar
Liz and the Blue Bird
Lu Over the Wall
Mad Men, Seasons 1-7
Mandalay
Millennium Actress
Mind Game
Miss Congeniality
Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous
Mission to Moscow
My Dream is Yours
Ne Zha
Night and Day
Paul Anka: His Way (HBO Original)
Perfect Blue
Pierrot le fou
Racket Busters
Riffraff
Romance on the High Seas
Santa Fe Trail
Shin Godzilla (GKIDS)
Shining Victory
Shoeshine
Sing and Like It
Song of My City
Summer Wars
Table 19
Taking Woodstock
The Color Purple (1985)
The Colors Within
The Damned Don’t Cry
The Girl Who Leapt Through Time
The Goonies
The Matrimonial Bed
The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex
The Sea Wolf (1941)
The Seventh Victim
The Shop Around the Corner
They Won’t Believe Me
Tiny Furniture
Trouble Along the Way
Walk Softly, Stranger
Walk the Dark Street
Wedding Crashers
Wilson
Wolf Children
X-Men: First Class
December 2nd
Capital One MLB Open
Chopped: Volume 4, Season 63 (Food Network)
Hard Knocks: In Season with the NFC East (HBO Original)
New Orleans: Soul of a City (CNN Original Series)
“The Hidden Homeless,” The Whole Story with Anderson Cooper (CNN Original)
December 3rd
Fixer to Fabulous, Season 7 (HGTV)
December 4th
About Face, Season 1 (TLC)
Architecton (A24)
Cheap A$$ Beach Houses, Season 1 (HGTV)
Dunkman, Season 1
Dylan’s Playtime Adventures, Season 1D (Max Original)
It’s Never Over, Jeff Buckley (HBO Original)
December 5th
Batwheels, Season 3A (Cartoon Network)
House Hunters International: Volume 9, Season 205 (HGTV)
House Hunters: Volume 10, Season 247 (HGTV)
The Family McMullen (2025)
December 7th
The Christmas Showdown (OWN)
December 8th
90 Day Fiancé: Before the 90 Days, Season 8 (TLC)
December 9th
Bugs Bunny Builders, Season 2I (Cartoon Network)
Fixer Upper: Colorado Mountain House (Magnolia Network)
December 11th
Wizkid: Long Live Lagos (HBO Original)
December 12th
Sarah Squirm: Live + In the Flesh (HBO Original)
Spinal Tap II: The End Continues
Stolen Children (HBO Original)
This Is Spinal Tap
December 13th
Vantara: Sanctuary Stories, Season 1 (Animal Planet)
December 14th
Toad and Friends, Season 1D
Very Merry Mystery (OWN)
December 15th
Assassination in the Valley of the Kings (Discovery)
The Bold Type, Seasons 1-5
Tony Shalhoub Breaking Bread (CNN Original Series)
Truck U, Season 21
White House Christmas (HGTV)
December 16th
The Secrets We Bury (ID)
“MisinfoNation: White Genocide,” The Whole Story with Anderson Cooper (CNN Original)
December 17th
Obsession: The Murder of a Beauty Queen (HBO Original)
December 18th
Counting Crows: Have You Seen Me Lately? (HBO Original)
Saving Yellowstone with Dennis Quaid, Season 1 (Animal Planet)
December 19th
House Hunters: Volume 10, Season 248 (HGTV)
Teen Titans Go!, Season 9F (Cartoon Network)
December 20th
Adult Swim’s The Elephant (Adult Swim)
December 21st
Secrets in the Sand, Season 2 (Science)
December 22nd
Aztec Batman: Clash of Empires (2025)
The Last Captains, Season 1 (Discovery)
December 23rd
“The Exorcists,” The Whole Story with Anderson Cooper (CNN Original)
December 24th
Guy’s Grocery Games, Season 40 (Food Network)
Ne Zha II (A24)
December 25th
Happy And You Know It (HBO Original)
December 26th
Heaven (HBO Original)
December 27th
Junk or Jackpot?, Season 1 (HGTV)
December 28th
Home Reimagined, Season 1B (Magnolia Network)
My Pet Ate What!?, Season 1 (Animal Planet)
December 29th
Celebrity IOU, Season 11 (HGTV)
Two Guys Garage, Season 24
December 31th
Building Outside the Lines, Season 3 (Magnolia Network)
