Some potentially scary news this week concerning another beloved cinematic hero. There are conflicting reports around the web today that Jean-Claude Van Damme has suffered a heart attack while on the set of his new movie Weapon. The film was initially being shot in Romania, but moved to New Orleans for three days of shooting, where production was delayed. Van Damme supposedly had the heart attack before actually going in front of the camera, and after spending some brief time in the hospital in New Orleans he was released and has returned with his family to Belgium. Fortunately, the heart attack was a mild one and he is expected to make a full recovery.

Since the story first came out, there were some reports that it was a hoax. The news first broke over on Van Damme Fans, which may not seem like the most reliable source. However, Van Damme’s friend and frequent collaborator Sheldon Lettich did drop by to confirm the news:

“We were asked — by JC and his agent — to keep it quiet until they could release a statement. Guess the cat somehow got out of the bag before they could do that. It was a mild heart attack, by the way. That’s why you saw a photo of JC, Gladys, and myself out at a restaurant only a couple of days after the fact. And the day after that JC flew back to Belgium, which is a lot of flying (3 planes!) and not something that he would have undertaken had his condition been more serious.”

It’s good to hear that this is not life-threatening, although it’s unclear how it will affect the shooting of Weapon or JCVD’s future projects. He just turned 50 on Monday too… poor guy.