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, wrote in a post on X shortly after The Post exclusively revealed her passing on Feb. 26 that Trachtenberg had penned “one of the best screenplays I’ve ever read.”
An adaptation of Jerry Oppenheimer’s 2009 biography “Toy Monster,” 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 s–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 said 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, 63, said he and Tebo are “putting the pieces together to get this film made for Michelle.”
“Maybe Michelle is looking out for us,” Tebo reflected.
The Post broke the news of Trachtenberg’s death last week.
The “Harriet the Spy” star, 39, was found by her mother at around 8 a.m. at her luxury apartment complex near Columbus Circle, sources said.
The actress underwent a liver transplant within the last year, and 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.