HBO Brings Back One of Its Most Controversial ’90s Movies

As HBO Max removes some of its original programs in preparation for a merger with Warner Bros and Discovery, other movies and series are being added to the streaming platform for consumers. The cable network will air the 1996 Emmy and Golden Globe-nominated film If These Walls Could Talk. Airin on Dec. 9 at 8 PM, the film stars Demi Moore, Sissy Spacek, Cher, Anne Heche, Xander Berkley, Jada Pinkett Smith, and Shirley Knight. It originally aired on HBO film on Oct. 13, 1996, the same year it premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival that year. It was unprecedented, examining abortion set in three separate decades after three women faced unplanned pregnancies. 

After its Dec. 9 premiere, it will also be available for streaming for the first time on HBO Max. It’s premiering just months after the historical overturning of Roe v. Wade, where abortion remains a hot political issue state to state with governers deciding autonomy over women’s bodies. 

“We are so grateful to HBO for allowing us to make this film and the conversations it inspired in 1996,” the film’s executive producer Suzanne Todd said in a statement, per Collider. “HBO Max making it available to a new generation of audiences will hopefully once again bring attention to the issues of women’s healthcare.” The film may feel a bit too surreal to some audiences as it depicts a similar political climate the world has experienced this year surrounding legislative acts on abortion rights. Nevertheless, the HBO film inspires conversations on an important topic.

If These Walls Could Talk was big on the award circuit, earning four Emmys, including Outstanding Television Movie, three Golden Globes including for Best Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television, Best Lead Actress in a Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television (Demi Moore), and Best Supporting Actress in a Series, Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television (Cher). Pinkett Smith was also nominated for an NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Television Movie or Miniseries.

HBO Max recently cancelled the Issa Rae-produced reality series Sweet Life: Los Angeles. The decision came weeks after it cancelled the reality competition series Legendary.