Being a long time DVD and BD buyer, it always seemed in the past that it would generally take 6 months from theatrical release to a home release version. And I remember having discussions back in the day with other impatient movie fans how it would be really nice if they could speed it up. There seemed to be a 1-2 month void where it wasn't even in theaters nor on disc.

I think this recent trend is a good idea. For me because I'm impatient and I really want to see the movie at home and have pause/rewind control. And for studios because they can maybe capatalize while there is still major buzz for the movie. I mean if the movie just barely got off theaters and all of a sudden you can see it in stores. More people will be interested if there is still "movie buzz" going for it. Or I might be wrong and it's all about me being excited. But check this out

Michael Jackson's This is it (less than 3 months)
Theatrical Oct. 28 Disc Jan 26

Princess and the Frog (approx 3 months)
Theatrical Dec 11 Disc March 16

Avatar (approx 4 months)
Theatrical Dec 18 Disc April 22

These are major movies. To me it's pretty exciting. Because at 6 months alot of my excitement for the movie is gone. But after 3 or 4 months I'm still a little bit buzzing from the "newness" of the movie. Just thought I'd share. I hope this is a trend. It looks like it might be.

You mean movies to DVD and Blu-ray, right?

Yeah, why?

Cause studios want money faster. Money is good.

I don't know if it's so much a new trend as it is that the window is steadily decreasing. For a few years at least, it hasn't been uncommon for movies to come out after just 4 months.

In any case, it's not surprising the Michael Jackson movie was released so soon. They wanted to capitalize while there was a lot of interest in the wake of his death.

that's true about this is it. But then Princess and the Frog came out so quickly (heck I was just talking about going to see it in theaters about 3 weeks ago, glad I waited). Now Avatar, the biggest action movie ever only 4 months? Movies like that (potter, LOTR, xmen etc) it would always be 6 months. All I'm saying is I hope this is a trend. I love not having to wait long for my favorite movies to come home!

Because your thread title and where you posted the thread make it sound like this is a trend that is specific to Blu-ray. It is not.

Shorter the release time the better.

Well I just threw DVD in there, I honestly don't really care about DVD any more. HD includes talk about Bluray, so I think it's not misleading at all. However if a mod feels that way, please move it.

This is a special case though, as Avatar would probably not be coming out in April if it hadn't been forced off of all the 3D and Imax screens, where it made the majority of its revenue and was still putting up good numbers each week before it got pulled.....even Cameron and 20th Century Fox readily admit they had to essentially leave "money on the table" (as the saying goes) due to the scheduling system implemented by the limited number of 3D and Imax screens nationwide....

I can see that also. Then what is the reason for Princess and the Frog? I'll be keeping my eye open for future releases trending this way.

Fox made a profit on Avatar once it passed $500 million worldwide. Everything is now all profit. To increase their level of profit, why not release the DVD/BD as soon as the film leaves theaters?

Same logic applies to Princess and the Frog. Disney spent close to $150-200 million worldwide once all was said and done. While the film grossed more than $100 million domestically, Disney was hoping it would do more. We all know that Disney films do huge on DVD/BD, so why not release it to the video market as soon as possible?

It's been a 3-4 month window for sometime now for most releases.