• Walt Disney Studios has 12 scheduled movie releases in 2025.
• These include three Marvel films, two live-action remakes, and another "Avatar" movie.
• Here's what we know so far about these releases.

Disney may have slowed down on superhero and live-action remakes in 2024, but it is doubling down on its popular franchises in 2025.

Only two of Disney's 12 releases this year are not sequels or remakes. In the past two years, Disney and other major studios have shifted to focus more on sequels and existing franchises.

That plan seemed to work in 2024, with the top 20 highest-grossing films being sequels, remakes, or adaptations.

Disney now owns the rights to a slate of properties from Pixar, Disney Animation, Searchlight, 20th Century Fox, Lucasfilm, and Marvel. Here are all the movies coming in 2025 from those studios.

• Los Angeles is bracing for high winds that could worsen ongoing wildfires.
• The fires have burned 40,000 acres and destroyed 12,300 structures. Authorities reported 24 dead.
• Evacuation orders are in effect for more than 92,000 people as fires threaten more areas.

After nearly a week of wildfires ravaging Los Angeles, the area is bearing down for more high winds on Monday that threaten to spread the flames even further.

The fires have burned through more than 40,000 acres in Los Angeles County, displaced hundreds of thousands of residents, and killed at least 24 people. More than 12,300 structures have been destroyed, local authorities have said.

Firefighters made some progress containing the blazes over the weekend — the Palisades Fire, the largest, is 14% contained, and the Eaton Fire, the second-largest, is 33% contained as of Monday morning, according to Cal Fire, a state agency.

But high winds are forecast to pick up again Monday and Tuesday, with gusts up to 70 miles an hour creating "extremely dangerous fire weather conditions" across coastal southern California, the National Weather Service said.

The NWS issued a "particularly dangerous situation red flag warning" for parts of Santa Barbara, Ventura, and Los Angeles Counties through Wednesday. The red flag warning signals fire danger. Though the winds aren't expected to reach the same highs as last week, they still pose "a high risk for large fires with potential for very rapid spreading of any fires that may develop."

The fires are predicted to become the worst natural disaster in US history, and the death toll will likely rise, California Gov. Gavin Newsom said Sunday.

"I think it will be in terms of just the costs associated with it, in terms of the scale and scope," Newsom told NBC's Meet the Press. "I've got search-and-rescue teams out. We've got cadaver dogs out. And there's likely to be a lot more."

Around 92,000 people near the Palisades and Eaton fires are under evacuation orders, and another 89,000 are under evacuation warnings, Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said at a Monday morning press conference.

Palisades Fire

The Palisades Fire in the Pacific Palisades area north of Santa Monica has burned through over 23,700 acres and was 14% contained as of Monday morning, according to Cal Fire.

The cause of the fire, which started on Tuesday morning, is still under investigation. It threatens to spread into Brentwood, Encino, and Westwood.

The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner's Office has reported eight deaths tied to the Palisades fire so far.

Eaton Fire

The Eaton Fire, which has devastated parts of Pasadena and Altadena since it began on Tuesday, has now burned through more than 14,100 acres, according to Cal Fire. It is 33% contained as of Monday morning.

"In my career, I've never seen the amount of devastation and destruction that exists here. So, a lot of work. It's going to be long-term," Ernie Villa, an operations section chief for the California Interagency Incident Management Team, said at a Sunday press conference.

The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner's Office has reported 16 deaths tied to the Eaton fire so far.

This is a developing story. Please refresh for updates.

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• A chef shared the red flags she looks out for when ordering a tasting menu at a high-end restaurant.
• It's not a great sign if can't find the price of the food or how long the meal will take.
• If the wine pairings cost as much as the food, it may signify that the meal isn't a great value.

Many high-end restaurants offer curated multicourse tasting menus — elaborate, time-consuming, and often expensive ways of dining out that are about more than just food.

Telly Justice, executive chef and co-owner at fine-dining restaurant HAGS in Manhattan, told Business Insider she was skeptical going into her first tasting-menu experience at a three-star Michelin restaurant.

However, she had an incredible time and said the craftsmanship, care, and artistry were immediately apparent in every aspect of the menu.

Now, Justice holds that experience as a gold standard while both seeking out these experiences as a diner and creating them as a chef.

Here are a few red flags the chef keeps an eye out for when choosing to have a tasting menu at a fine-dining restaurant.

It's unclear how much the meal costs

If you can't find the prices listed for menu items, the restaurant is probably "a space for people that don't need to know the prices," Justice said.

It's kind of a code to let you know that if you need to budget for this meal, it's probably not for you.

The chef said the lack of prices could also mean the place is likely to take you and your wallet for a bit of a ride.

The menu feels overwhelmingly wordy

"Menus that do too much talking and explaining tend to flag to me that this is somebody that has an insecurity with their cuisine that the food itself can't speak and explain the concept on its own," Justice said.

She prefers simple menus over ones packed with complex jargon, industry speak, or technical words.

"If you have to write a paragraph about a dish before I even enter the restaurant, I'm already exhausted," she told BI.

No clear thread or theme connects the courses

Justice said it is "essential" that high-end tasting menus tie each course together somehow, whether through a vague theme or specific thread.

A lack of clear connection in the menu usually signals to her that the chef or investors are just scattering seeds to see what works.

"At that price point and for this kind of style of dining you want somebody that knows exactly what they're good at," she said.

You're not clearly told how long of a time commitment your meal will be

Restaurants should be able to clearly communicate how many courses a meal is or about how long you can expect to spend eating it.

If this isn't clear, she said, the experience could be "all about the ego of the chef" and signify that diners' time isn't a priority.

If you do get an estimated timeframe, the eatery should stick to it.

"A restaurant should be able to keep a promise to its diners," she added. "If you say dinner's gonna be two hours, then I'm gonna plan my life around that."

There's a lot of pressure to pay for extras

Many tasting menus give diners the option to pay for extras like caviar courses, dish upgrades, or wine pairings.

Although these can be a lovely addition to your dining experience, Justice said, you shouldn't feel pressured to pay for extras, and your meal shouldn't feel less-than if you don't.

Wine pairings cost the same as the food

Justice told BI "there should be a gap" between the cost of the wine pairings and the tasting menu itself.

When the two are close in cost, it signals to her that either the food is improperly priced or the wine is too expensive to be used reasonably in that pairing.

"If you want to showcase really boutique, expensive, collectible wines, then it's awesome to have a higher-end tasting available for serious, serious drinkers," she said. "But in reality, most people that go to tasting menus are not exclusively looking to spend $1,000 a meal."

Rather, it's a good sign when an eatery offers multiple tier options and price points for its wine pairings.

The space just doesn't feel comfortable or warm

Tasting menus "tend to be long experiences," so Justice pays attention to whether the restaurant has created a generally comfortable and safe space.

She asks questions, like: "Do the chairs have backs? Do I feel like I can sit here for two to three hours and not leave feeling like I just got run over by a car?"

Justice also observes the vibe of the staff in the dining room, noting her interactions with servers and front-of-house workers. For example, they shouldn't seem scared of their bosses or overly apologetic to diners.

Lastly, she checks to see if the restaurant is ADA-compliant — a diner in a wheelchair, for example, should be able to have as good of an experience as someone who isn't.

Overall, Justice said, these sorts of things speak volumes about the type of hospitality she's about to receive.

• Jeff Bezos says he takes Elon Musk at his word that he will use his newfound power for good.
• Bezos' Blue Origin and Musk's SpaceX are among the leading private companies in the new space race.
• Through DOGE, Musk will have a major perch to influence the future of federal spending.

Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos said Elon Musk's budding relationship with President-elect Donald Trump won't give SpaceX a leg up on its competitors.

"Elon has been very clear that he's doing this for the public interest and not for his personal gain," Bezos told Reuters in an interview published on Monday. "And I take him at face value."

Bezos spoke ahead of Blue Origin's launch of its New Glenn rocket, which was ultimately scrubbed due to a need to "troubleshoot a vehicle subsystem issue."

The Amazon founder has repeatedly downplayed any concerns that Musk's self-described status as Trump's "first buddy" will give any of his companies an advantage.

Last month, Bezos said he was hopeful that Musk's work will remain above board.

"Let's go into it hoping that the statements that have been made are correct, that this is going to be done, you know, above board, in the public interest," Bezos said during The New York Times' Dealbook conference. "If that turns out to be naive, well, then we'll see."

Musk's power has been on full display in recent weeks. He took a leading role in killing a bipartisan government funding bill loaded with unrelated provisions to entice congressional Democrats to support it. Congress eventually averted a government shutdown, but the episode led some Democratic lawmakers to call out "President Musk" and the influence he will wield in Trump's Washington.

Trump and Musk have been virtually inseparable from Trump since Election Day. Musk's role in the Department of Government Efficiency will give him power to call for major cuts to federal spending.

Blue Origin and SpaceX are already part of a joint Pentagon launch contract that could be worth up to $5.6 billion.

Trump has previously said that Musk has "the credibility" to carry out DOGE's mission.

"I think that Elon puts the country long before his company," Trump told Time Magazine last month.                                                       

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