Ben Stiller is apparently lining up to star in Brett Ratner’s first film since Rush Hour 3. Tower Heist will see him leading a motley crew attempting to steal back the cash grabbed by a nasty business type who runs a skyscraper.

The project is one that proves how fickle the Hollywood development cycle can be. Just a couple of years ago, Ratner was planning the film – then called Trump Heist (apparently the most famous hair in business wasn’t exactly rushing to give approval to use his name) – that focused on an Ocean’s Eleven-style crew of comprised of the likes of Eddie Murphy, Chris Rock and Ratner regular Chris Tucker.

Penned by Ocean's scribe Ted Griffin, it never seemed to get moving, but has now resurfaced with Noah Baumbach re-writing the script to Stiller’s taste following their collaboration on Baumbach’s latest, Greenberg.

According to The Hollywood Reporter’s Roger Friedman, Universal is pushing this into high gear and Ratner will aim to get it going as soon as possible. Thanks to The Playlist blog for the spot.

Of course, it could still vanish once more into the murk of studio limbo, and re-merge as an all-CG musical featuring a cast of rabbits...