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2028 is going to be a big year for the Fab Four.
Not only will Sam Mendes’ The Beatles: A Four-Film Cinematic Event hit cinema screens in April, but a huge immersive fan experience will open in Liverpool - one to rival Graceland and Dollywood.
Apple Corps have announced plans for a “spectacular” new Liverpool home for the long-running attraction The Beatles Story, which will be moving in 2028 from its current home in Liverpool’s Albert Dock to a brand-new site that was formerly St Johns Market in St Johns Shopping Centre, directly opposite Liverpool Lime Street station.
The new iteration of Liverpool’s The Beatles Story is billed as a “multi-hour experience” and will be more than four times its current size. Set across a new 9,290-square-metre site in the heart of the city, the iconic St Johns Beacon will house a ‘Yellow Submarine’-themed 360-degree panoramic viewing experience over the city.
The Beatles Story promises to use “immersive technology, original artefacts and spectacular reconstructed sets to bring the Beatles’ extraordinary story to life” - as well as recreated settings from the group’s history.
Fans will get to go on a journey “through the world that created The Beatles, from the streets of post-war Liverpool, through their formative years in Hamburg and the explosion of Beatlemania, to the heights of their international fame”.
Sets and props from Mendes' movies will create versions of Liverpool’s Cavern Club, where the band got its start; the famous Abbey Road studios in London; and Shea Stadium, the site of their legendary 1965 performance.
"I find it incredible and humbling that people are still interested in our story and it’s very exciting to me that The Beatles Story and The Beacon are being transformed in such an exciting way in the heart of Liverpool city,” said Paul McCartney.
“I love Liverpool. It’s part of who I am, it’s part of who The Beatles are. If you’d told us this was going to happen when we were hanging out and getting started we’d never have believed it. The extraordinary plans the Apple Corps team have shown me for The Beatles Story take me right back to that journey, from Liverpool to the world and back home again."
He added: “It couldn’t have happened without Liverpool and I can’t wait for people to be able to step into our story and share the experience.”
Prime Minister Andy Burnham added that the development marked “the kind of ambition I want to see more of across Britain: backing the things our great cities do best and turning that global reputation into jobs, opportunity and growth”.
“But the best legacy we can give The Beatles is to make sure theirs isn’t the last great British success story to begin this way,” Burnham added. “Talent exists in every part of our country; opportunity still doesn’t. I want the next generation of young artists, wherever they grow up, to believe there is a route from their bedroom, rehearsal room or local venue to the very top of the world. The fact that this project will help open those doors makes it even more special.”
Apple Corps’ CEO Tom Greene promised that The Beatles Story would be “a world class destination” and compared it to Graceland or Dollywood, while Liverpool City Region Mayor Steve Rotheram shared how money raised from this “pilgrimage” would also be paying back into the local grassroots.
“Every ticket sold will go towards ensuring that the band’s extraordinary story is kept alive and passed on to generations still to come, helping the next generation of Liverpool artists start writing stories of their own,” said Rotherham. “That feels very Liverpool: fiercely proud of where we’ve come from but always looking to what comes next.”
The new iteration of The Beatles Story will open in 2028. Sam Mendes' four films are slated for a simultaneous release in April 2028. They will star Paul Mescal as Paul McCartney, Harris Dickinson as John Lennon, Joseph Quinn as George Harrison, and Barry Keoghan as Ringo Starr.