The Australian is reporting that pre-production on George Miller's new movie Mad Max: Fury Road has been shut down, with filming now expected to start in February 2012.

The site reports that crew members were told sometime this week that pre-production had been halted and now expected to start in either August or November of 2011. Filming is now expected to start in February 2012, on location in the Broken Hill area of Australia. Here's an excerpt from the article:

"The delay has left many major film crew members without work amid fears the high Australian dollar could ultimately kill the film as its budget grows."

The movie had already been delayed back in July after unseasonal rains had left the Broken Hill region too fertile. At the time, production had been pushed back to later this year, and now it seems this project has been delayed once more.

We'll be sure to keep you posted with any further details on Mad Max: Fury Road as soon as we have more information.