Michelle Trachtenberg was in the final stages of getting a screenplay approved before her sudden death last week.
Director and producer Casey Tebo revealed Monday that he had been working with the “Gossip Girl” star for years to secure production for “Toy Monster,” which was based on Jerry Oppenheimer’s 2009 book exposing the “big, bad world of Mattel” and its controversial business practices.
Tebo, who helmed the 2021 film “Black Friday,” raved to TMZ that Trachtenberg had one of the best screenplays he has ever read.
After years of going back and forth with different studios, the duo were in the process of getting a “very successful finance studio” on board just last month.
However, both Tebo and the unnamed studio paused their talks after Trachtenberg tragically died last week at the age of 39.
The filmmaker clarified that he is still determined to make the movie in the late actress’s honor because she wanted to see it come to fruition.
Tebo didn’t immediately return Page Six’s request for comment.
Trachtenberg was pronounced dead last Wednesday after her mom, Lana Trachtenberg, found her unconscious at her New York City apartment.
Sources told The Post that the “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” had recently received a liver transplant.
It is unclear, however, what caused her death, as her family opted out of getting an autopsy for religious reasons. The cause has been ruled “undetermined.”
Prior to her death, Trachtenberg had sparked concerns for her health because of her physical appearance on her social media pages.
Despite clapping back at Instagram commenters and shutting down rumors she was “sick” in January 2024, the “Harriet the Spy” star was reportedly “struggling” with undisclosed problems.
“She told friends she was struggling,” a source told People last week. “She was really, really sick and open with those in her circle about how much she was struggling.”
Sources also told Page Six that Trachtenberg looked to be “in very bad shape” while grabbing dinner at Italian restaurant Sartiano’s in NYC less than a week before she died.
One employee even mentioned that she looked so “frail” that she could barely “walk down the stairs.”
Several of Trachtenberg’s former co-stars, including Blake Lively, Sarah Michelle Gellar and Chace Crawford, mourned her death by sharing social media tributes.
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