ZAGREB (AFP) - The next Star Wars movie will follow in the footsteps of Game Of Thrones, with some scenes due to be filmed in Croatia's Adriatic resort of Dubrovnik next month, city officials said Friday.

Shooting will take place in the medieval town, a Unesco World Heritage site, from March 9 to 16, a statement said, adding that the choice of the city would create a huge "marketing potential".

The statement came as Dubrovnik mayor Andro Vlahusic visited Lucasfilm, the film production company that created the Star Wars franchise, in San Francisco on Thursday.

From 2011, three seasons of the series Game Of Thrones were filmed in Dubrovnik - dubbed the "Pearl of Adriatic".

The seventh Star Wars episode - The Force Awakens - quickly surpassed the US$760.5 million record set in 2009 by Avatar to become the top-grossing film ever in the North American market.

In mid-January the film had grossed more than US$2.19 billion (S$3 billion) worldwide.

The eighth instalment is to premiere in December 2017, according to Disney and Lucasfilm.