Del Toro 'feels no pressure' on 'Hobbit'

Guillermo del Toro has claimed that he is not feeling any pressure working on highly-anticipated Lord Of The Rings prequel The Hobbit.

The Hellboy director told Radio 5 Live's Simon Mayo that he isn't worried about matching the critical and commercial successor of Peter Jackson's fantasy trilogy.

He said: "Frankly no. If I live the experience like that I would go insane. I don't know if there's a compartment in my brain that just doesn't register those things. I feel an enormous responsibility but not to the results, either by Oscars or box office."

He continued: "I have an enormous responsibility to a book I adore and to a legacy of a world. Creatively I feel very responsible and very daunted, but honoured, doing this."

Del Toro admitted that preparing the epic two-movie adaptation of JRR Tolkien's novel has been demanding: "I go to work at 9am. We open The Hobbit office 9am to 8pm. We are working on the screenplay [and] designing creatures at WETA.

"The first movie, if it stays on schedule, comes out 2011. The second movie 2012, Christmas time."

Last week, it was reported that del Toro is "very close" to announcing the film's cast. Sir Ian McKellen, Andy Serkis and Hugo Weaving are all expected to reprise their Lord Of The Rings roles in The Hobbit.