Whoops! Disney's Touchstone Pictures picked the wrong time to come out with Confessions of a Shopaholic. Now that everyone's broke and scared, ad folks believe it's going to be mighty tough to convince people to plop down $10 to watch a movie about a beautiful, young, white lady who likes to buy things, which, unfortunately, was once considered a winning storyline.

"The timing sucks," said one Hollywood marketing chief. "I don't envy them."

The romantic comedy is an adaptation of Sophie Kinsella's eponymous best-selling novel that producer Jerry Bruckheimer will bring to the big screen this coming Valentine's Day. In "Shopaholic," Australian actress Isla Fisher stars as Becky Bloomwood, a young woman who's piled up $9,400 in credit card debt snapping up Zac Posen dresses, Todd Oldham belts, Gucci handbags and Prada shoes — even though as a journalist at a personal-finance magazine, she ought to know better.

People familiar with the production say that what could have been a valentine to brands and a love affair of soft marketing dollars now is causing some hand-wringing at the Bruckheimer bungalows.

Insiders say the Shopaholic team is now working on a new ending that in some way addresses the current climate of financial instability. Don't hold your breath waiting for the all-too-real murder-suicide angle.