Academy Award nominee Gabourey Sidibe was added to the cast of Brett Ratner's film, 'Tower Heist,' joining Ben Stiller, Eddie Murphy, Michael Pena, and Alan Alda.

Deadline.com reports that Sidibe and Pena will play employees who work in a luxury high-rise and discover their pension funds have been drained by a Bernie Madoff-like Wall Street crook (played by Alda) who is living under house arrest in the opulent penthouse apartment. Led by the building's manager (played by Stiller), the employees figure out a way to use their knowledge of the building to rip him off.

For the Brooklyn, New York native, it's her first major film since being nominated for Best Actress for her starring role in Lee Daniels' Oscar nominated film, 'Precious: Based on the Novel "Push" by Sapphire.' She was recently a cast member of the Showtime series, 'The Big C,' with Laura Linney and Oliver Platt.

She's already shot the independent film, 'Yelling to the Sky,' which is directed by Victoria Mahoney and co-stars Zoe Kravitz.

'Tower Heist' will start production in New York next month with a scheduled November 4, 2011 release.