Cannot launch 1.17 pre 1 / 1.17 pre 2

when i run the launcher, and select 1.17 pre 2, the launcher successfully downloaded the pre-release version, but crashes when it tries to run. i get a message on screen "error: could not create the java virtual machine".

 

i can run 1.16.5 successfully, and i have also been running all the snapshots fine too. it just won't run the 1.17 pre-release versions.