Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones is a 2002 American epic space-opera film directed by George Lucas and written by Lucas and Jonathan Hales. It is the second installment of the Star Wars prequel trilogy, the fifth film to be produced, and the second film in the "Skywalker saga". It stars Ewan McGregor, Natalie Portman, Hayden Christensen, Ian McDiarmid, Samuel L. Jackson, Christopher Lee, Anthony Daniels, Kenny Baker, and Frank Oz. Set ten years after the events in The Phantom Menace, the galaxy is on the brink of civil war, with thousands of planetary systems threatening to secede from the Galactic Republic. After Senator Padmé Amidala evades an assassination attempt, Jedi apprentice Anakin Skywalker becomes her protector, while his mentor Obi-Wan Kenobi investigates the attempt on her life. Soon, the trio witness the onset of a new threat to the galaxy: the Clone Wars.