For lovers of Sophie Kinsella’s Shopaholic books (there’s 5 in total), the movie version of the first book, Confessions of a Shopaholic, has begun filming in New York.

The storyline has changed a little, with 32 year old actress Isla Fisher playing 23 year old Rebecca Bloomwood, a college graduate who lands a job as a financial journalist in New York City to support her shopping addiction. And like the novel, she meets and falls for a wealthy entrepreneur.

“I loved the books. I’m such a Sophie Kinsella fan. She’s such a talented writer, and it taps into the consumer collective conscience,” Fisher says. “I’ve done a lot of research - a lot of shopping. My favorite thing to shop for would be bags. I don’t have that many. I believe in recycling - you pass the bags on.”

Costume design will be headed up by none other than Patricia Field (what fashion movie/tv show set in New York does not feature Pat?) while cutie, Hugh Dancy is signed on to co-star - could he play Luke?

In other Shopaholic tidbits, Fashionista.com reports that the movie script shamelessly plugs brands like: J. Crew, Marc Jacobs, Sigerson Morrison, Miu Miu, H&M, DKNY, Gap, Banana Republic, Diane von Furstenberg, Missoni, Zara, and Coach in the first three pages.

The movie has a tentative release date of October 2008.

P.S. Did you know that Kate Hudson was originally set to play Becky Bloomwood - not long after she played Andie Anderson in How To Lose a Guy in 10 Days. I wonder what happened there…