Last week I posted a mostly negative review of Neil Jordan’s new film Ondine. And I don’t regret it. But despite the film’s flaws, part of me still wants to see Jordan succeed. In an interview with Coming Soon, Jordan talked about what he’s working on next: a live-action adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s fantasy novel The Graveyard Book.

For those who don’t know, Gaiman has been growing steadily as a major figure for film material. He has written several scripts, such as the recent version of Beowulf, but it’s his prose that seems to be gold in Hollywood at the moment. In 2007 Gaiman’s Stardust fantasy novel was adapted into a film starring Robert De Niro, Claire Danes, and Michelle Pfeiffer, with reasonable success. That was followed by the 3D animation adaptaiton of Coraline, which exceeded analyst’s expecations and made $120 million worldwide. At a time when fantasy movies are struggling, Gaiman seems to have unlocked the key to entertaining and fun fantasy film that adults can get a kick out of.

The Graveyard Book is about a child who when orphaned, gets raised in a graveyard by the resident ghosts and monsters. Similar in tone to Coraline, Jordan has already turned in a script and has received much attention from Hollywood Studios (the film fell foul of dissolving companies and fired executives, hence its financing delay). Jordan confirms that the film will be live-action although it’s unlikely it will be in 3D. He hopes filming to commence later in the year.

Meanwhile, Jordan is overseeing Showtime’s new series The Borgias, which he originally created as an epic movie, but is now directing the pilot.