LOS ANGELES — “Wonder Woman” fell to second place in its third weekend in theaters, but it’s still doing the heavy lifting for the otherwise lackluster summer box office.

Many worn-out franchises and franchise hopefuls continue to struggle.

As expected, the third installment in Disney and Pixar’s $1 billion “Cars” franchise easily took the top spot, but its estimated $53.5 million in earnings told a complicated tale.

“Cars 3” had the worst opening in the series’ history — “Cars” opened to $60.1 million and “Cars 2” to $66.1 million — and it was one of the lowest debut totals for the Pixar brand.

It was also a disappointment compared with the top films over this weekend in 2015 and 2016, noted comScore senior media analyst Paul Dergarabedian.

A year ago, Pixar’s “Finding Dory” debuted with $135.1 million. In 2015, Jurassic World” raked in $106.6 million in its second weekend.

“That kind of tells you the state of the industry,” Dergarabedian said. “It’s been a challenging summer. I always say it comes down to product. Are the movies grabbing people?”

Next week the fifth installment “Transformers: The Last Knight” opens. Dergarabedian expects it follow suit with most of the summer’s franchises and earn the bulk of its money abroad. Estimated sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters:

1. “Cars 3,” $53.5 million

2. “Wonder Woman,” $40.8 million

3. “All Eyez on Me,” $27.1 million

4. “The Mummy,” $13.9 million

5. “47 Meters Down,” $11.5 million.

6. “Pirates of the Caribbean,” $8.5 million

7. “Rough Night,” $8.1 million

8. “Captain Underpants,” $7.4 million

9. “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2,” $5 million

10. “It Comes At Night,” $2.6 million.