Trachtenberg Was on Verge of Selling Screenplay

Michelle Trachtenberg was reportedly on the verge of selling a screenplay before her death last week. The 39-year-old had written what director-producer Casey Tebo tells TMZ was one of the best screenplays he's ever read—an adaptation of Jerry Oppenheimer's Mattel exposé, Toy Monster. Tebo says he and Trachtenberg convinced a major studio head to take on the project years ago, but that deal fell apart when the executive left for another company. Then, just weeks before Trachtenberg's death, a "very successful finance studio" expressed interest in the film, says Tebo.

"We sent it to an executive who immediately wanted to fast track it," Tebo wrote on X, per Parade. Though the film has been put on pause in the wake of Trachtenberg's unexplained death, Tebo says he's determined to see it through in honor of his collaborator, a talented writer who didn't get the recognition she deserved. Her screenplay is "as good as Wolf of Wall Street," he writes on X. "I'm doing everything I can to get this movie made, we just need to find the right director." Some fans suggested the project could be crowdfunded. "There's a whole generation who grew up with Michelle and our hearts are broke," wrote one user, per Parade. (More Michelle Trachtenberg stories.)