Are DVD's of popular movies being released to the public earlier than they used to be?

I just went to Amazon’s website and noticed that Avatar DVD’s will be released on April 22nd and this with a recent announcement that Avatar may be re-released into theaters for a longer run.

I’ve noticed in the past that mainstream popular movies in theaters don’t really have a DVD release until months after they’ve stopped showing in theaters.

I was just curious if there is a new trend to release popular movies quicker to the public or if this might be a one time occasion due to the huge popularity of the movie Avatar.

Anyone have the inside scoop on this?