Extras arrive on set at Ye Cracke pub in Liverpool for filming for The Beatles movie on Wednesday(Image: Liverpool Echo)

Liverpool's famous Ye Cracke pub rolls back the years for Beatles movie

by · Liverpool Echo

Rice Street was transported back to the 1960s as film crews recreated a scene outside one of John Lennon's favourite pubs

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A Liverpool city centre street was transported back to the 1960s yesterday as film crews recreated a scene outside one of John Lennon’s favourite Liverpool watering holes.

Filming for Sam Mendes' upcoming Beatles biopic series took place outside Ye Cracke on Rice Street on Wednesday, September 23, with the pub once again surrounded by the sights and sounds of the era. The iconic Liverpool pub was a favourite haunt of Lennon during his time as a student at Liverpool College of Art in the late 1950s.

According to Beatlesource, Lennon and fellow art-school friend Stuart Sutcliffe were regulars at Ye Cracke, where their drink of choice was reportedly Black Velvet - a mixture of Guinness and sparkling wine.

Photographs of Lennon outside the pub from October 1958 have helped cement its place in the Beatles story. Ye Cracke was also where Lennon took Cynthia Powell after the pair met at an art-college dance. The couple would later marry.

The pub’s connection to Lennon and his art-school friends is still marked today by a plaque on its wall. It commemorates an occasion in 1960 when Lennon, Sutcliffe, Bill Harry and Rod Murray reportedly gathered at Ye Cracke and formed a band called The Dissenters over a beer.

Now, more than six decades later, the famous Rice Street pub has once again been transformed for a Beatles production.

Sam Mendes’ ambitious series of four films will tell the story of the Beatles from the individual perspectives of Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr.

The films star Harris Dickinson as Lennon, Paul Mescal as McCartney, Joseph Quinn as Harrison and Barry Keoghan as Starr, and are scheduled for release in April 2028.

While we didn’t catch a glimpse of the stars themselves, ECHO photographer Iain Watts was there to capture the filming - and the brilliant 1960s outfits worn by the extras.

Take a look through our pictures below as Liverpool’s Rice Street is taken back to the Beatles era.

  1. A film set at Ye Cracke pub in Liverpool for filming of The Beatles movie today
    1 of 14(Image: Liverpool Echo)
  2. The street was transported back to the 1960s yesterday as film crews recreated a scene outside one of John Lennon’s favourite Liverpool watering holes
    2 of 14(Image: Liverpool Echo)
  3. Extras arrive on set at Ye Cracke pub in Liverpool for filming for The Beatles movie today
    3 of 14(Image: Liverpool Echo)
  4. The pub was once again surrounded by the sights and sounds of the area
    4 of 14(Image: Liverpool Echo)
  5. The iconic Liverpool pub was a favourite haunt of Lennon during his time as a student at Liverpool College of Art in the late 1950s
    5 of 14(Image: Liverpool Echo)
  1. Extras were decked out in 60s gear
    6 of 14(Image: Liverpool Echo)
  2. According to Beatlesource, Lennon and fellow art-school friend Stuart Sutcliffe were regulars at Ye Cracke, where their drink of choice was Black Velvet
    7 of 14(Image: Liverpool Echo)
  3. Photographs of Lennon outside the pub from October 1958 have helped cement its place in the Beatles story
    8 of 14(Image: Liverpool Echo)
  1. Ye Cracke was also where Lennon took Cynthia Powell after the pair met at an art-college dance. The couple would later marry
    9 of 14(Image: Liverpool Echo)
  2. Now, more than six decades later, the famous Rice Street pub has once again been transformed for a Beatles production
    10 of 14(Image: Liverpool Echo)
  3. Sam Mendes’ ambitious series of four films will tell the story of the Beatles from the individual perspectives of Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr
    11 of 14(Image: Liverpool Echo)
  1. The films star Harris Dickinson as Lennon, Paul Mescal as McCartney, Joseph Quinn as Harrison and Barry Keoghan as Starr, and are scheduled for release in April 2028
    12 of 14(Image: Liverpool Echo)
  2. While we didn’t catch a glimpse of the stars themselves, ECHO photographer Iain Watts was there to capture the filming
    13 of 14(Image: Liverpool Echo)
  3. The extras wore brilliant 1960s outfits
    14 of 14(Image: Liverpool Echo)