Another variation on the online-movies idea has surfaced: Twisted Pictures (the people behind the "Saw" horror films) is developing a new horror picture that will have its U.S. debut online, in three-minute chunks. They will retain all foreign, pay TV, and home video rights to exploit after the film has run on break.com.
Obviously, the marketing strategy is the driving force--they haven't even selected the final script or director yet. The idea is to build up the popularity of Break.com (a video web site), to create profits for Twisted Pictures, and to build up the web presence of Ubiquity Partners (digital packagers who comprise the third element in the deal) in the horror field.
What's interesting to me as a writer is that they claim "We are making this just like any other feature" (according to Twisted exec. Oren Koules).
I don't think there are many feature films that break down into a full collection of 3-minute chunks that work well on their own. Let's see how well they handle this--this kind of thing could be an interesting new market for writers, but I think it will require thinking and working in a different way.