With his announcement last night that "Clerks III" will begin shooting in May, Kevin Smith laid out a production schedule that includes the hockey miniseries "Hit Somebody" and the horror comedy "Moose Jaws," while hinting at a possible return to one of his earliest films.

We shoot CLERKS III in May. HIT SOMEBODY shoots September to Christmas. Then in Feb 2016, we do MOOSE JAWS. But after that? I smell a rat...

— KevinSmith (@ThatKevinSmith) March 12, 2015

Naturally, he could be messing with fans, but "I smell a rat" certainly suggests "Mallrats," the 1995 romantic comedy that launched the acting career of Jason Lee, who, along with co-star Ben Affleck, went on to appear in numerous Smith movies.

The filmmaker's follow-up to "Clerks," "Mallrats" was a commercial bomb upon its theatrical release, but it's developed a cult following in the nearly two decades since. Although Smith has been on a tear the past few years, with "Red State," "Tusk," "Yoga Hosers" and now "Clerks III," another "Mallrats" feature would seem unlikely.

However, as Uproxx points out, he could be teasing a digital short, webseries or even a comic book, rather than a movie.