Academy Award Winner Alejandro Gonzalez Gonzalez Inarritu has fired back at critics questioning the rising production costs of his latest film, the 19th century wilderness epic 'The Revenant.' 

The movie, which stars Leonardo DiCaprio as an explorer attempting to survive in the untamed frontier of North America, has reportedly gone $40 million over its original $60 million budget. Some of the additional costs can be attributed to the film's diverse and far-flung shoot locations in Canada and Argentina as well as Inarritu's decision to shoot the film in chronological order.

Speaking via satellite from Los Angeles at the Producer's Guild of America conference in New York, the Birdman director explained the reasons behind his decisions.

On the decision to shoot sequentially he said, "That's the only way I understand the story and the characters, and that's the way I leave the story room to grow and understand it, and make changes to suddenly what is required to do. As filmmakers, sometimes you are god, and sometimes you are a creature of the thing. In a way you have to be humble to hear what's going on and see the transformation ... even when it costs a little more. I'm not investing in visual effects, but emotional effects, and I think actors understand the emotions better when it's chronological."

Harsh weather conditions also added to problems to an already complicated shoot. "The film takes over in itself and you have to be observing. Everybody's growing as we are doing. Babel took us 11 months or a year shooting around the world. In this case, The Revenant starts in the late autumn and ends in the deep winter. I could not have done it [differently]. We were exposed to extremely difficult circumstances." He said.

To see the fruits of this grueling production, catch The Revenant when it hits theatres on Christmas day.