Boardwalk Empire is a crime movie.
Boardwalk Empire . Winter , a Primetime Emmy Award-winning screenwriter and producer , created the show , inspired by the book Boardwalk Empire : The Birth , High Times , and Corruption of Atlantic City by Nelson Johnson about historical criminal kingpin Enoch L. Johnson . The pilot episode was directed by Martin Scorsese and produced at a cost of $ 18 million . `` Boardwalk Empire '' is the pilot episode of the HBO crime drama Boardwalk Empire .