John Refoua, an editor nominated for an Oscar who worked on both Avatar and Avatar: The Way of Water, has passed away. A 58-year-old man, he.
Refoua passed away as a result of complications from cholangiocarcinoma, a rare form of bile duct cancer, according to his wife Serena Bell, who posted the sad news of his passing on Facebook. Early in 2022, a cancer diagnosis was made for him. Bell Refoua wrote, “Despite the suffering and complexity of this aggressive disease, he faced it with courage and resolve.” “Until his final few weeks of life, he kept working on James Cameron’s Avatar 3 as a cut and editor. Everything he touches is better because of his extremely unusual life path.
Longtime colleague of James Cameron, Refoua is an experienced and well-respected editor. Together, they collaborated on the Titanic No. 1 documentary “Ghost of the Abyss,” the Fox sci-fi series Dark Angels, and the Avatar series. For his work on Avatar, Refoua, together with Cameron and Stephen E. Rivkin, received an Oscar nomination in 2010 for Best Achievement in Film Editing.
Refoua claimed that Cameron called him in early 2007 to ask for some assistance with Avatar during a 2010 interview with Cine Montage. The editor ended up spending more than two years on this ground-breaking endeavor. The editing team for Avatar had to work through the process and establish new methods of operation, which presented a significant technical obstacle. “How do we make this movie in a meaningful way was our shared emphasis. What’s the best course of action? Since there is no established procedure, we learn new things as we go along, Refoua told Cine Montage.
For Avatar: Way of Water, which will include the reunion of Cameron, Refoua, and Rivkin in 2022, the late David Brenner will serve as a fourth editor. This will be a significant, technically challenging undertaking. The next Avatar 3 will also feature Refoua’s creations.
Refoua is a favorite of Antoine Fuqua’s, and the two have collaborated on four movies in a row, including the action-adventure Olympus Has Fallen (2013), the thriller The Equalizer (2014), and the gritty boxing drama Southpaw (2015). and the 2016 The Magnificent Seven remake from Sony.