Short answers, pulled from the story.
George Lucas wrote and directed all three films in the Star Wars prequel trilogy. His return to directing with The Phantom Menace in 1999 ended a 22-year hiatus from the director's chair since the original Star Wars in 1977.
The Phantom Menace was released on the 19th of May 1999, Attack of the Clones on the 16th of May 2002, and Revenge of the Sith on the 19th of May 2005. The trilogy was released across a six-year span from 1999 to 2005.
The three films earned a combined worldwide total exceeding $1.8 billion. The Phantom Menace alone grossed over $1 billion worldwide, while Revenge of the Sith brought in nearly $903 million.
Lucas had planned a prequel trilogy before the original Star Wars was released, but canceled further films by 1981 due to the stress of producing the original trilogy and personal pressures. He was inspired to revive the project in the early 1990s after seeing a CGI test created by Industrial Light and Magic for Jurassic Park, which convinced him the technology had reached the level he needed.
Lucas drew parallels between Palpatine and Adolf Hitler, Julius Caesar, Napoleon Bonaparte, and former United States president Richard Nixon. Palpatine's rise from chancellor to Emperor was specifically intended to echo Hitler's path from chancellor to Fuhrer.
The prequels received mixed critical reviews but were box-office successes with all three films. On Rotten Tomatoes, The Phantom Menace scored 52 percent, Attack of the Clones 61 percent, and Revenge of the Sith 79 percent. Audience scores measured by CinemaScore were more favorable, with all three earning an A-minus rating.