Brother Dao Took the Entertainment Industry by Storm, Fans Beg Me Not to Kill Anymore

Chapter 427: “No Bait” Selected for Cannes! The Trailer Drops!

The Cannes Film Festival is one of the most influential and top-tier international film festivals in the world today, alongside the Berlin and Venice film festivals, collectively known as the worldʼs three major international film festivals.

Its existence and international influence are far beyond what domestic film awards in China can compare to. Interestingly, despite years of cultural output and international influence, Chinaʼs presence in such awards remains shockingly weak. Many netizensʼ first impression of it is the dazzling Cannes red carpet, a spectacle of competing glamour, and countless red carpet ”beauty domination” press releases.

The number of people truly qualified to step into this arena is exceedingly few.

Even now, with the rapid development of film and television, the industry is instead in a state of transition, with new talent failing to emerge, having long since fallen short of its former glory.

This time, ”No Bait,” relying on a script that had been shelved for ten years, a rookie male lead just making his debut in the film industry, and a director with billions in box office revenue planning to retire after this project, managed to break into the Main Competition section before the film was even officially released domestically. It will engage in a head-to-head competition with other internationally renowned directors, screenwriters, and leads from the same period.

Even if it ultimately doesnʼt win an award, this moment is already a glorious honor worthy of being recorded in the annals of ”No Bait” and following it for a lifetime. It also signifies that ”No Bait,” despite not yet being released domestically, has already received a degree of international recognition.

With its outstanding credentials of being shortlisted for the Cannes Film Festival, ”No Bait” is destined for an extraordinary official release.

In fact, the moment the shortlist was announced, many people were already exhilarated.

Itʼs been too long, far too long since thereʼs been such exciting news!

The Main Competition is the primary competition section of the Cannes International Film Festival, and the most widely known award is undoubtedly the ”Palme dʼOr,” the highest-value award at Cannes, bar none.
To be honest, ”No Bait” is a script that was stuck for ten years; some plot points might already be outdated. Furthermore, the plot of ”No Bait” does have some hard-to-ignore flaws from certain perspectives, making it less suitable for an awards push. Its somewhat commercial, feel-good novel mode greatly reduces its critique and deep exploration of certain social phenomena. Therefore, in essence, itʼs not artistic enough, not deep enough, not quite suited for awards success.

Yet the film was still shortlisted.

This indicates that the directorʼs creativity and Xiao Heʼs performance successfully elevated this ”lack of depth” work to another level.

Even Xiao He himself hadnʼt expected that his portrayal of Shu Yuxiu would be shortlisted, let alone have a chance to compete with others for the Best Actor award.

Isnʼt this a form of success in itself?

Thinking carefully, Shu Yuxiu indeed represents the peak of his acting skills so far. He was truly tormented by the character during that period, almost to the point of obsession.

When Liu Rulan received the news, she specifically and meticulously investigated, confirming that among the other shortlisted male actors this time, Xiao He was the youngest.

More precisely, Xiao He is the youngest in the history of Chinese cinema—regardless of whether Xiao He himself wins an award later, his and ”No Baitʼs” shortlisting is already enough to leave a mark in Chinese film history.

Such an achievement for a newcomer like Xiao He is simply a heavenly starting hand.

Even before this, Xiao He hadnʼt won any major domestic film awards.

The film ”Law of the Jungle,” in which he starred, did bring some minor awards and achievements, but they werenʼt well-known or valuable enough. In contrast, ”No Bait,” without even being released domestically, was directly submitted for review at the Cannes Film Festival and successfully won Cannesʼ favor.

This move, this result, this ability—at this moment, everyone in the industry circle understood that Xiao He had become unstoppable.

The brilliant performance in ”Twelve Mirrors” made people face his acting skills directly, and the successful shortlisting for Best Actor for ”No Bait” made people face his value directly.

Almost the moment Xiao He got off the plane, his phone was being blown up.

Looking at the constantly vibrating phone and the endless stream of new messages, Xiao He said a word to Liu Rulan and then began replying to them one by one.

At the same moment this news reached the country, the originally scheduled May Day season release of ”No Bait” began its pre-release hype ahead of time.

At a moment when everyone was still caught off guard, the trailer for ”No Bait” went online.

The plot of ”No Bait” was filmed on an island, so its scenery is undoubtedly very beautiful.

Amidst the beautiful scenery are beaches, beauties, handsome guys, and sweet, sweet romance—

The moment the young man in racing gear stepped down from the race car, the world suddenly fell silent.

Following the female leadʼs perspective and her pounding heart, the screen was left with only the male lead, Shu Yuxiu, reaching towards the camera with a gentle smile.

”Shall we get married?”

Under the sunset, the male lead knelt on one knee, presenting a ring to the female lead.

The female lead lowered her head, light and shadow enveloping her figure, but she failed to notice that on the other end of the coast, the sky in her direction was already covered by a layer of dark clouds.

The next moment, the screen abruptly turned pitch black.

”Okay.”

The young womanʼs voice was hoarse, then completely fell into dead silence.

Only the sound of waves hitting the shore remained, along with the slowly appearing title: ”No Bait.”

”May 1st, see you then.”

”Note: This film has been successfully shortlisted for the Cannes Main Competition section.”

When they saw the trailer and the small line of text the production team had temporarily added to show off, the fan community buzzed with excitement.

[Ahhhhh, finally waited for it! Is ”No Bait” finally coming? Ahhhh!]

[Handsome guy, Iʼll lick lick lick, beautiful girl, Iʼll lick lick lick, hurry up and release it, let me see!]

[Wuwu, who understands the worth of Brother Xiao finally achieving a leading role that dominates the screen after all this journey? Congratulations to Brother Xiao on his first-billing lead film about to be released!]

Is it a romance drama? The tags include romance! But why does the later part of the footage feel a bit oppressive, is it my illusion? Oh damn, not good, I smell fraud.

[Could it be another fraudulent film?]

Handsome guys and beautiful girls should just have a proper romance! Not explore the nature of love itself, the complexity of human nature, twisted psyches, or decadent states. What I crave is a normal romantic plot!

[Although, but, you might have forgotten, the male lead is Xiao He, and itʼs shortlisted for Cannes, so... this matter is very not simple!]

[Their selection criteria really like to discuss human nature, society, and certain phenomena, but the trailer for ”No Bait” doesnʼt seem to fit that. Could it be exploring the philosophy of love?]

Danger, danger! I just beg them not to do some weird stuff just to pursue artistic merit for awards! That love triangle shortlisted for Cannes last time didnʼt have great word-of-mouth domestically...

[Donʼt panic, donʼt jump to conclusions yet. This version isnʼt the final trailer for ”No Bait,” havenʼt you noticed? Besides, thereʼs still over a month until the May Day season. They wouldnʼt play their trump card right from the start. So donʼt panic, donʼt be anxious, trust Director Ning, trust Brother Xiao, and quietly wait for the final version of the trailer.]

It must be said that over the years, netizens have become disillusioned with many so-called award-winning works.

Not all award-winning works can appeal to both refined and popular tastes, and not all artworks can gain everyoneʼs approval.

Although many people have developed a strong curiosity about ”No Bait,” the trailer and the shortlisting operation for ”No Bait” still garnered a lot of concern.

However, this is only a minority voice. Most people have already been stunned by this series of pleasant surprises.

The Little Box fans were celebrating as if it were New Year, directly holding celebrations across various platforms.

A big spender waved his hand, and another red envelope rain began outside.