It stars John Leguizamo, Peter Sarsgaard, Denise Richards, Sônia Braga, Isabella Rossellini, Fat Joe, and Treach.

Victor "Vic" Rosa is a drug dealer in New York City who sells a specific brand of heroin called "Empire".

Victor's girlfriend Carmen invites him to a chic white-collar party being thrown by her friend Trish and her boyfriend Jack Wimmer, an investment banker.

He approaches La Colombiana with an offer, in which she agrees to lend Vic the money he needs, if he gives her a 500% return and stops a feud between his best friend Jimmy and rival dealer Hector.

Reyes was inspired to make the film based on his experiences growing up in the South Bronx and losing friends to the crack epidemic.

"[9] In a positive review, Mick LaSalle of the San Francisco Chronicle wrote the film "has a capacity to surprise" and "Gangland hits here are more clumsy and personal, more small-town and familial, than in the usual gangster movie.

"[7] LaSalle concluded, "In the end, the story of 'Empire' gets completely crazy, and pretty improbable, as if Reyes quit writing about what he knew and started throwing in any wild thing he could think of.