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Katie makes custody grab for Suri as she dumps Tom over ‘religion’

Katie Holmes and Tom Cruise tie the knot in Italy.

Katie Holmes and Tom Cruise tie the knot in Italy. (Getty Images)

A sullen Holmes heads to Chelsea Piers to meet up with Suri.

A sullen Holmes heads to Chelsea Piers to meet up with Suri. (Kristin Callahan/ACE/INFphoto.com)

2006 WEDDING Katie Holmes and Tom Cruise tie the knot in Italy. LAST SEEN TOGETHER Katie and Tom head out for a night on the town during a family vacation in Baton Rouge, La., in April. (
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Katie Holmes is making a break for it — and she wants to save Suri, too!

The pretty “Dawson’s Creek” actress has filed for divorce from Tom Cruise after 5 1/2 years of marriage, reps for both actors said yesterday, bringing down the curtains on one of Hollywood’s most watched and mocked unions.

Holmes will move for “primary residential custody” of their 6-year-old daughter, sources said.

PHOTOS: TOM CRUISE AND KATIE HOLMES

PEYSER: ROLL THE CREDITS ON THIS SHAM OF A UNION

The 33-year-old actress, raised Catholic in Ohio, allegedly doesn’t want her Scientologist hubby’s kooky “religion” or his pals to have any part in Suri’s upbringing or education now that she’s old enough to start school.

“This is a personal and private matter for Katie and her family,” said Holmes’ lawyer, Jonathan Wolfe. “Katie’s primary concern remains, as it always has been, her daughter’s best interest.”

Her case was filed Thursday in Manhattan Supreme Court under seal as “Anonymous v. Anonymous.” The couple owns a townhouse on West 12th Street.

The divorce filing took Cruise, 49, by surprise, sources said.

He even told Playboy magazine for its June issue that his romance with Holmes was as hot as ever.

“I’m a romantic,” Cruise told the mag. “I like doing things like creating romantic dinners, and she enjoys that. I don’t know what to say — I’m just happy, and I have been since the moment I met her. What we have is very special.”

Cruise’s rep said he’s now focusing on his kids — including two adopted children from his 11-year marriage to Nicole Kidman, 45, which ended in 2001.

“Kate has filed for divorce, and Tom is deeply saddened and is concentrating on his three children,” said Cruise’s spokeswoman, Amanda Lundberg.

“Please allow them their privacy to work this out.”

Holmes converted to Scientology before they got married.

Celebrity-gossip Web sites had a field day with the union — branded “TomKat” — claiming Holmes had to undergo a Scientology purification ritual that required her to take megadoses of vitamins that turned her hands purple.

The split will make Cruise a three-time marital loser. His first marriage was to actress Mimi Rogers. It, too, was wrecked by his Scientology ties and ended in 1990 after three years.

Rogers, 56, told People magazine Cruise wanted to become a Scientology monk and he “thought he had to be celibate to maintain the purity of his instrument, whereas I like to play mine from time to time.”

The Cruise-Holmes divorce stands in stark contrast to the early days of their whirlwind romance.

In an infamous incident, Cruise professed his love on “The Oprah Winfrey Show” in 2005, jumping on the daytime-talk queen’s couch wearing a crazed smile.

“I’m in love,” he told her.

“I’ve never seen you like this,” Winfrey said. “We’ve never seen you behave this way before.”

But Holmes’ fans never warmed up to Cruise.

A cottage industry popped up with “Free Katie” T-shirts and buttons, making a tongue-in-cheek plea for Holmes.

Cruise — with help from his Scientology friends — had allegedly “auditioned” actresses for the role of gal pal or wife.

The actor had considered Penelope Cruz, Erika Christensen and Scarlet Johansson before plucking Holmes from the pack, said former Scientologist Marc Headley in his tell-all book, “Blown for Good: Behind the Iron Curtain of Scientology.”

Cruise and Holmes were ranked as the ninth-most-powerful celebrity couple, having raked in $75 million last year, according to Forbes magazine.

When Holmes and Cruise tied the knot during a lavish ceremony at an Italian castle on Nov. 18, 2006, they had already said “I do” to an extensive prenup.

She’s set to cash out for $3 million for each year of their union. The deal reportedly had a cap of $33 million, so Holmes could walk out of this relationship pocketing a cool $15 million.

She will also get the couple’s palatial mansion in Santa Barbara County, Calif.

Holmes was said to be busy with a business venture in China and couldn’t change her schedule.

Cruise was in Iceland yesterday, shooting the movie “Oblivion,” his rep said.

Additional reporting by Dareh Gregorian and Laura Italiano