Apple Corps have announced plans for a “spectacular” new Liverpool home for The Beatles Story – promising an epic immersive experience for fans from across the globe.
As part of Apple Corps Ltd and Universal Music Group’s landmark partnership announced ahead of Sam Mendes’ ambitious biopics about the Fab Four, the long running, award-winning attraction 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 will be more than four times its current size and set across a new 100,000 square foot site in the heart of the city, with the iconic St Johns Beacon now set to house a ‘Yellow Submarine’-themed 360-degree panoramic viewing experience over the city.
Arriving in 2028, after 3 Savile Row open to the public next year for the first ever official Beatles fan experience in London, The Beatles Story promises to use “immersive technology, original artefacts and spectacular reconstructed sets to bring the Beatles’ extraordinary story to life”.
Fans will take a journey of several hours “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” – stopping off at landmark locations from the band’s history including The Cavern, Abbey Road, Shea Stadium, and many more.
Some of these will be recreated using sets and props used to shoot Sam Mendes’ upcoming The Beatles: A Four-Film Cinematic Event, hitting cinema screens in April 2028.
“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.
“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.”
Ringo Starr also shared what Liverpool still meant to him, and how proud he was that The Beatles Story will help to regenerate the city centre.
“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. Liverpool was, and still is, music city. And now we are expanding the The Beatles Story Experience in Liverpool – how far out. The beat goes on. I also love that proceeds from every ticket will go back to support new Liverpool artists. It is great to be part of this – deep down I am still a scouser – I love what Apple (Corps) and Liverpool are doing.”
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.”
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 continued. “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.”
Mendes four films are lated for a simultaneous release in April 2028. They will star Paul Mescal as McCartney, Harris Dickinson as John Lennon, Joseph Quinn as George Harrison, and Barry Keoghan as Starr.
It’s been a busy year for the surviving Beatles. While this month saw the deluxe of their 1965 album ‘Rubber Soul’, Starr also dropped the new Americana-inspired solo LP ‘Long Long Road’ and McCartney shared the Mercury-nominated ‘The Boys of Dungeon Lane‘.
Ahead of the album’s release, McCartney sat down with NME to look forwards and back on his extraordinary career, share his “excitement” at contributing to the new The Rolling Stones album, and also reveal if he has plans to retire. Starr meanwhile, talked to us about his lifelong love of country music and its impact on The Beatles back in the day.
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