My Chemical Romance have teamed up with visual artist and filmmaker Lauren Tsai for “Prelude to The End,” a collaborative short film that expands the creative world surrounding the band’s landmark album The Black Parade. Available now on the band’s YouTube channel, the film arrives alongside the release of The Black Parade (20th Anniversary), a reissue celebrating two decades of the 4x Platinum-certified record.
The project brings together Tsai’s original universe, The Dying World, with “The End,” the opening track from The Black Parade. Produced through Tsai’s independent studio, UNREAL INC., the film will also screen ahead of the final two nights of My Chemical Romance’s five-show run at Hollywood Bowl on October 30 and 31.
At the center of “Prelude to The End” is Astrid, the protagonist of The Dying World. Her story unfolds at an unusual boarding school in New England, where the environment has been overtaken by trash and students are expected to conform. When the school attempts to take away her cherished sketchbook, Astrid falls through a trash chute and enters a world inhabited by forgotten ideas. There, she encounters an idea of her own that has continued to haunt her.
The film explores the relationship between creativity, identity, and the determination to express one’s true self. Those themes connect closely with the ideas that have appeared throughout My Chemical Romance’s music, making the collaboration a natural meeting point between the band’s artistic legacy and Tsai’s expanding fictional universe.
The film features an ensemble of notable voice contributors. Tsai voices Astrid, while Billie Eilish portrays Astrid’s friend and Phoebe Bridgers voices her sister. Hideo Kojima takes on the role of The Teacher, and John C. McGinley voices The Dean, an imposing authority figure at the fictional Paper Academy.
The soundtrack also incorporates a live recording of Flying River, Violin Concerto by Pascal Dusapin, performed by Utopia Orchestra at Fondation Louis Vuitton. Conducted by Giuseppe Mengoli, the performance features solo violin by Daniel Lozakovich.
For Tsai, the collaboration represents a full-circle moment. She began creating art and animation as a self-taught artist on YouTube at just 11 years old, with My Chemical Romance serving as an important influence on her creative development. As a young fan, she even created animated videos set to the band’s music. That early connection eventually became part of the inspiration behind The Dying World and its characters.
Since then, Tsai has developed a wide-ranging career across illustration, animation, fashion, acting, and directing. After building her career in Japan, she relocated to Los Angeles, expanding her work through collaborations with brands including Marc Jacobs and Nike, as well as appearances in HBO’s Rooster and FX’s Legion. Her fine art work has also included a collaboration with Perrotin Gallery for Art Basel Hong Kong.
The Dying World first appeared as a short film at the 2025 Annecy Film Festival before being further developed through a large-scale installation at Hollywood Forever Cemetery later that year. With “Prelude to The End,” Tsai has the opportunity to expand that universe through new characters, voice performances, and settings while connecting its story to the mythology surrounding The Black Parade.
“It was an absolute dream to work on this project for The Black Parade and The Dying World. I deeply respect MCR and Gerard’s creative legacy. It has been an honor for him to find inspiration in a world that I’ve created, in the same way I have always admired the worlds that he has built throughout his career,” Tsai shares.
The short film arrives as My Chemical Romance celebrates the 20th anniversary of The Black Parade, originally released in 2006. The album reached No. 1 on Billboard’s Top Rock Albums and Top Tastemaker Albums charts, helping propel the New Jersey band into mainstream success. Described by Rolling Stone as an “era-defining rock opera,” the record remains one of the group’s most influential releases.
The anniversary edition includes the original album alongside six bonus tracks. Three are fan-favorite B-sides previously spread across separate releases, while the remaining three are live recordings captured during the band’s 2007 tour at Maxwell’s in Hoboken, New Jersey. The recordings are receiving their first release on LP, CD, and streaming platforms, including the previously unreleased “Someone Out There Loves You.” An iTunes exclusive version also includes live performances of “Mama” and “Cancer.”
Meanwhile, My Chemical Romance are wrapping up the U.S. leg of their The Black Parade 2026 Tour with five consecutive nights at Hollywood Bowl, concluding on Halloween before continuing to Asia the following week.
For Tsai, the opportunity to bring her own creative world into conversation with an album that helped shape her artistic development is a significant milestone. For fans, “Prelude to The End” offers another way to experience the themes and imagination behind The Black Parade, while giving The Dying World a new chapter through an unexpected collaboration.
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