This Old Handheld Is Now Playing Christopher Nolan's Tenet

Despite the ongoing pandemic, director Christopher Nolan recommended fans see his new film Tenet in theaters. Nolan went on the record as saying, "I think of all the films that I've made, this is perhaps the one that is most designed for the audience experience, the big screen experience." Tenet wasn't universally well received by critics, but now it's officially the smallest film Nolan has ever made. Gamer and tech geek Bob Wulff adapted Nolan's film to play on a Game Boy Advance, and he seemingly did it all purely out of spite. Now Wulff wants to help people at home do the same thing.

At the beginning of his tutorial, Wulff Den said he thought of putting Tenet on the Game Boy Advance after Nolan publicly stated that he wanted viewers to see his movie in theaters. Wulff managed to port the film onto five individual Game Boy Advance cartridges using Game Boy Camera software from another project, as well as some specially ordered equipment.

Wulff's video provides a complete walkthrough for fans who want to watch Tenet on their very own Game Boy Advance. DIY tinkerers will need writable Game Boy Advance cartridges and specific hardware to put video onto those cartridges. Oh, and a copy of Tenet. Wulff went on to explain the software necessary for converting Tenet to Game Boy Advance form.

But why five cartridges for one film? Wulff explained that Game Boy Advance cartridges only hold a maximum of 30 minutes of video. Since Tenet clocks in at about two and a half hours, five cartridges fit almost perfectly. Wulff even created tiny labels for the film. Because Tenet is so long, Wulff also had to transfer it at a lower framerate than he otherwise might. Even still, the resulting footage was crushed and pixelatedbeyond belief.

Towards the end of his video, Wulff paused and reflected, "You know, now that I think about it, I still haven't actually watched Tenet."

Wulff's project was likely fueled by Christopher Nolan's continued insistence on the importance of movie theaters. Along with urging filmgoers to see the movie in theaters, Nolan publicly called for Warner Brothers to reconsider a deal that would allow HBO Max the ability to stream movies on release day via its online services. HBO Max has not changed its streaming plan so far, and film lovers like Bob Wulff continue to criticize Nolan for his statements.