Watch 'Mission: Impossible — Fallout' director Christopher McQuarrie on Ultimate Summer Movie Showdown

This week’s reader favorite summer movie is “Mission: Impossible — Fallout," starring Tom Cruise. Join film critic Justin Chang and director Christopher McQuarrie for a live chat about the 2018 blockbuster at 9:30 a.m. Thursday on the next #UltimateSummerMovie Showdown.

McQuarrie joins Times readers from London, where he's been filming the next movie in the "Mission: Impossible" franchise. Watch the live video chat on the Los Angeles Times Classic Hollywood Facebook Page. Or tune in on Twitter or YouTube.

Tom Cruise, left, and writer-director Christopher McQuarrie discuss "Mission: Impossible — Fallout" at CinemaCon 2018.
Tom Cruise, left, and writer-director Christopher McQuarrie discuss "Mission: Impossible —Fallout" at CinemaCon 2018. (Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP)

The Ultimate Summer Movie Showdown is the L.A. Times series where each week readers vote on the greatest summer films of all time. Or at least since 1975, the year that “Jaws” forever changed the landscape of summer moviemaking. As Chang writes, "What if we took this summer — set to be the worst summer at the movies since the dawn of the medium more than a century ago — and instead used it to celebrate the best?"

Recent showdown guests include "Clueless" director Amy Heckerling, "Die Hard" cinematographer Jan de Bont, "Alien" director Ridley Scott and "Finding Nemo" director Andrew Stanton.

To recap the rules: Each week Chang presents readers with a list of movies from 1975 to 2019, all of which were released during a particular summer time frame. You may vote for your favorites on his Twitter account @justincchang. Each week’s polls are posted at 5 p.m. Pacific time Monday. Voting continues through Wednesday.

What’s next: Times readers can vote on an expanded field of Week 14 movies that includes "The Fugitive," "Babe," Princess Diaries" and "Mission: Impossible: Rogue Nation." Watch the winning film on your own. Then join the Ultimate Summer Movie Showdown at 6 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 13, for a livestreaming conversation on Facebook, YouTube and Twitter.