El Chupacabras animated film makes U.S. debut this weekend

The Mexican animated film, which will be shown in over 30 cities, debuts this weekend in the United States and Puerto Rico, days after its debut in its home country.

Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami, Orlando and Portland are some of the cities in which the new film by Ánima Estudios will be shown.

“This is the first time we debut a film in the U.S., and we're excited with how well the Latino community has received news of the film,” said the film's producer, Fernando de Fuentes.

In the animated film, Leo San Juan (the protagonist in the “Las Leyendas” trilogy) is arrested by royalists during the Mexican War of Independence, who are then attacked by the chupacabras, a legendary creature in Latin American folklore.

The chupacabras garnered notoriety in the 90s, initially in Puerto Rico, and then in Mexico and many other parts of Latin America, after many eyewitnesses claimed to have seen the creature attacking and draining the blood of goats and other livestock.

The chupacabras got so much attention that it was even featured in a 1997 episode of The X-Files called “El Mundo Gira.”

Actors Benny Emmanuel, Eduardo España and Laura G. provide the voice of the film's title characters.