The Beatles Story is getting a new home.
Apple Corps Ltd. has on Tuesday confirmed plans for a city centre redevelopment for the long-running attraction in Liverpool, which is set to move in 2028 from its current home in Albert Dock to a brand new site opposite Liverpool Lime Street station.
The Beatles Story moves into the hands of Apple Corps, the company founded in 1968 to oversee The Beatles’ creative and business interests. It will be the first official fan experience to be operated in Liverpool by the company, releasing in time with Sam Mendes’ “four-film cinematic event” starring Paul Mescal, Harris Dickinson, Joseph Quinn and Barry Keoghan as Paul McCartney, John Lennon, George Harrison and Ringo Starr, respectively.
In fact, a number of the new immersive locations will be created using sets and props from Mendes’ biopics. The site will boast immersive technology, original artefacts and reconstructed sets to bring the Beatles’ story to life. During a multi-hour experience, visitors will be able to 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. Attendees will also be able to step inside some of the most iconic locations and moments in Beatles history, including The Cavern, Abbey Road, Shea Stadium, and Savile Row.
The hundred thousand-square-foot site will more than quadruple the attraction’s current footprint, and the iconic St John’s Beacon will also house a Yellow Submarine-themed, 360-viewing experience over the entire city.
McCartney admitted he is still humbled by the widespread interest in their lives. “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 the musician. “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.”
Starr also provided a heartfelt statement on what the city means to him. “When we grew up in the Dingle, we never thought we’d be on a plane, much less all the places this long, long road took us,” said the drummer. “I was blessed from the moment I first held a drum at 13 years old, and from then on it’s been my dream to be a drummer. I remember it all so well; on Saturdays Roy (Trafford) and I would spend many great hours at the Bodega and then the Cavern. I have such great memories of the first band I was in — me, Eddie, and Roy were all working in the factory when we started a skiffle group. Who would have thought where the story went from there — leading to me joining the Beatles.”
He continued: “Liverpool was, and still is, music city. And now we are expanding The Beatles Story Experience in Liverpool. How far out. The beat goes on.”
Apple Corps hopes the experience will help cultivate the next generation of musical talent in Liverpool — every ticket sold to The Beatles Story will contribute to the business’ Liverpool Trust, a charitable initiative established to provide financial support and opportunities for emerging Liverpool artists and local cultural endeavours.
Prolific filmmaker Mendes added that shooting the Beatles films in Liverpool has “brought home just how extraordinary the band’s legacy in the city is.” He said: “Their imprint can be felt everywhere. It’s particularly fitting that this new Beatles experience will be helping to support the next generation of talent coming from this extraordinary city.”