Bicentennial Man is a 1999 American science fiction comedy drama film, directed by Chris Columbus, and starring Robin Williams, Sam Neill, Embeth Davidtz, Wendy Crewson and Oliver Platt. Based on the 1976 novelette of the same name by Isaac Asimov and the 1992 novel The Positronic Man by Asimov and Robert Silverberg, the title derives from the main character existing to the age of two hundred years. Bicentennial Man was released in the United States on December 17, 1999, by Buena Vista Pictures Distribution under the Touchstone Pictures banner, with Columbia TriStar Film Distributors International releasing in other territories under the Columbia Pictures banner. It received mixed reviews from critics, and was a box office flop, grossing $87.4 million against a $90β100 million budget.