Author Neil Gaiman made an appearance on The Today Show this morning, where he announced that Neil Jordan will write and direct the big-screen adaptation of his latest award-winning novel, The Graveyard Book.

Jordan is best known for his work on the 1992 Academy Award-nominated film The Crying Game, which he wrote and directed and won the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay. Jordan also helmed Interview with the Vampire and most recently directed Jodie Foster in The Brave One.

Gaiman will produce the live-action film and Framestore, the UK studio that handled the The Dark Knight Harvey Dent/Two-Face work, will handle the visual effects for film, which has yet to be renamed. The author had said that he hopes the cast will be filled with well-known British actors, similar to the Harry Potter franchise, but the lead role of Nobody Owens — the little boy who’s raised by the inhabitants of a graveyard — will probably be played by several unknown actors at various ages.

It was announced yesterday that Gaiman is the 2009 Newbery Medal winner for The Graveyard Book, published by Harper Collins and illustrated by his longtime collaborator Dave McKean. The Newbery Medal is given out each year by the American Library Association to the author of the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children.

UPDATE: MSNBC has posted the video segment of Neil Gaiman’s Today Show appearance — watch it here below.

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