Michelle Trachtenberg’s boyfriend, Jay Cohen, and her producing partner, Casey Tebo, are determined to turn her final script into a finished film in the wake of her shocking death, Tebo told The Post.
The filmmaker, who directed the 2021 movie “Black Friday” starring Devon Sawa and Bruce Campbell, revealed that the late “Gossip Girl” star penned what he called “one of the best screenplays I’ve ever read” in a post on X shortly after The Post exclusively reported about her passing on Feb. 26.
An adaptation of Jerry Oppenheimer’s 2009 book “Toy Monster” (which was excerpted in The Post), Trachtenberg’s screenplay of the same name centers on the scandalous life of Jack Ryan, who shucked a job at the Pentagon designing missiles for a job as Mattel’s chief engineer. The notorious “playboy,” who allegedly viewed “sundry sexual pursuits as a way of life,” played a hand in the creation of Barbie and Hot Wheels, among other toys, during his tenure at Mattel.
“Toy Monster” made its way into Tebo’s hands courtesy of Cohen, a partner at the Gersh talent agency and his longtime friend.
“This script jumps off the page; a dizzying tale of jealousy soaked in whiskey and clad in ’50s fashion,” Tebo exclusively told The Post.
“I guarantee you, it gets made and people are gonna say, ‘Holy sh-t. She really did write the best script!’”
Tebo also said that he and Cohen plan to make the movie to honor Trachtenberg “if it’s the last movie Jay and I ever make.”
“I would say that he will do whatever he needs to do to honor her and show the industry — that he has done so much for so many in — what she was truly capable of,” Tebo added of Cohen.
Referring to “Toy Monster,” the filmmaker added, “When it gets made, my hope is that our industry will maybe take a second look at the thought that maybe what you know someone for isn’t all they’re good at.”
Tebo also revealed that the project got the green light from a major studio back in 2017, but the deal fell apart when the executive championing the project left the studio.
In a statement released earlier Tuesday, Cohen said he and Jay are “putting the pieces together to get this film made for Michelle.”
He also revealed that an angel investor named Tay Nicole DM’ed him on X after he posted about the script. “How can I help?” Tebo claimed Nicole messaged.
“So …. maybe Michelle is looking out for us,” Tebo reflected. “I’ve never been a superstitious or spiritual person, but things like that are hard to deny.”
The Post broke the news of Trachtenberg’s death.
The “Ice Princess” star, 39, was found by her mother around 8 a.m. at her luxury apartment complex in Manhattan’s Central Park South neighborhood on Feb. 26, sources said.
The actress underwent a liver transplant within the last year, though her body may have rejected the organ, insiders revealed, adding that she died of natural causes.
Her official cause of death has been ruled “undetermined” after her family objected to an autopsy, according to a spokeswoman for the city medical examiner’s office and sources.
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
