Hunter6 said:

If you think George Lucas will be to old to direct these "prequels to the prequels"... Think again, look at Clint Eastwood who is 78 and has been directing all thru his 70's. also look at other directors who are in their 70's and even 80's

Something worth taking into consideration is that Eastwood is in far better physical condition than George Lucas. I'd be surprised if George is still directing in his 70s. In fact, I'd be surprised if he ever directs anything again. Red Tails has been a project he has talked about writing and directing himself for the longest time, and now it comes out that he has hired both a writer and a director for the film. I think that may well be a sign he is done with directing.

The fact that there were many events that were mentioned to have taken place pre-TPM, doesn't mean that it was intended that there would be movies to explain those events. It is typical in story telling to make references to past events to add some backstory and history to the characters and events.