Maybe. It's worth pointing out that the PhD Movie was actually released many months ago, has already screened in many college campuses, and is now receiving a buzz of revived interest from us today. So this isn't t = 0 but t = 1, in the appropriate units.
The DVDs you propose buying are actually probably one of the most successful implementations of this strategy, and the key fact is that sometime a year down the line you say to yourself, "hey, I never got around to seeing that movie, it was too expensive, or they only had it in 3D and 3D makes my head hurt, or any number of other things -- why don't I just buy it at the reduced price on DVD?" It works.
(I'd say it works "very well" but honestly, DVD sales are pretty thinly reported across the industry, so nobody really knows how well it works in terms of hard numbers.)
The DVDs you propose buying are actually probably one of the most successful implementations of this strategy, and the key fact is that sometime a year down the line you say to yourself, "hey, I never got around to seeing that movie, it was too expensive, or they only had it in 3D and 3D makes my head hurt, or any number of other things -- why don't I just buy it at the reduced price on DVD?" It works.
(I'd say it works "very well" but honestly, DVD sales are pretty thinly reported across the industry, so nobody really knows how well it works in terms of hard numbers.)